Paul S. AppelbaumElizabeth K Dollard Professor, Columbia University Medical Center and New York State Psychiatric InstitutePosts by Paul S. AppelbaumBioethics Forum EssayDo You Want the Police Snooping in Your DNA?In late April, a suspect thought to be the Golden State Killer, a man who had eluded police for decades after committing a string of murders and rapes in Northern...Read Do You Want the Police Snooping in Your DNA?Bioethics Forum EssayFacebook’s Emotion Experiment: Implications for Research EthicsSeveral aspects of a recently published experiment conducted by Facebook have received wide media attention, but the study also raises issues of significance for the ethical review of research more generally. In...Read Facebook’s Emotion Experiment: Implications for Research EthicsBioethics Forum EssayGenetic Information Is Not Always BenignEthicists and others have been concerned that the disclosure of genetic information to patients might have negative consequences. The suspicion has been that negative effects, say, becoming depressed, are particularly...Read Genetic Information Is Not Always BenignRelated PostsBioethics Forum EssayNew York City’s Involuntary Commitment Plan: Fulfilling a Moral Obligation?After a string of violent crimes involving mentally ill people who are homeless, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a plan for police and emergency medical workers to involuntarily remove people with severe mental illness from the streets and bring them to hospitals for psychiatric evaluation. Mayor Adams said we have a “moral obligation” to help people who are mentally ill. But is this plan moral?Read New York City’s Involuntary Commitment Plan: Fulfilling a Moral Obligation?EventELSIcon2022: Innovating for a Just and Equitable FutureHastings Center scholar Erik Parens along with Paul Appelbaum, Robert Klitzman, and Julia Wynn will appear on a panel at the ELSIcon2022 conference: “The Impact of Receipt of Genetic Test...Read ELSIcon2022: Innovating for a Just and Equitable FutureEventWrestling with Social and Behavioral GenomicsWrestling with Social and Behavioral Genomics July 12, 2022, 1:00 – 3:00pm — Erik Parens and Michelle Meyer (with advice from Paul Appelbaum, Sandra Soo-Jin Lee, Daphane Martschenko) lead a...Read Wrestling with Social and Behavioral GenomicsEventWrestling with Social and Behavioral GenomicsMay 24, 2022 – 2:00 – 4:00pm — Erik Parens and Michell Meyer (with advice from Paul Appelbaum, Sandra Soo-Jin Lee, Daphane Martschenko) lead a working group that explores the...Read Wrestling with Social and Behavioral GenomicsEventWrestling with Social and Behavioral GenomicsErik Parens and Michelle Meyer (with advise from Paul Appelbaum, Sandra Soo-Jin Lee, Daphne Martschenko) lead a working group that explores the potential risks and benefits of social science genomics...Read Wrestling with Social and Behavioral GenomicsEventWrestling with Social Behavioral GenomicsErik Parens and Michelle Meyer (with advice from Paul Appelbaum, Sandra Soo-Jin Lee, Daphne Martschenko) lead a working group that explores the potential risks and benefits of social science genomics...Read Wrestling with Social Behavioral GenomicsEventWrestling with Social Behavioral GenomicsErik Parens and Michelle Meyer (with advice from Paul Appelbaum, Sandra Soo-Jin Lee, Daphne Martschenko) lead a working group that explores the potential risks and benefits of social science genomics...Read Wrestling with Social Behavioral GenomicsHastings Center NewsGenetic Pygmalion Effect? Study Suggests Negative Impacts of Genetic Tests for Educational PurposesGenetic tests claiming to predict people’s intellectual aptitudes or how much education they are likely to get are readily available via direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies. Some researchers are even proposing...Read Genetic Pygmalion Effect? Study Suggests Negative Impacts of Genetic Tests for Educational Purposes Do Genetic Findings Impact Perceptions of Responsibility?When: May 28, 2021 Since the start of the Human Genome Project, bioethicists and geneticists have speculated that genetic information can have large impacts on how people understand what they—and...Read Do Genetic Findings Impact Perceptions of Responsibility?