STEM CELL RESEARCH
Stem cell researchers around the country can finally go back to work knowing their jobs are safe now that the ruling prohibiting federal funding for embryonic stem cell research has been reversed.
BIOETHICS
As prenatal screening for both medical and nonmedical traits becomes a serious possibility, we walk a moral tightrope between letting parents choose and upholding our societal standards of tolerance.
STEM CELL RESEARCH
The hype surrounding the completion of the first synthetic organ transplant constructed from the patient’s own stem cells might obscure what we can really learn from this accomplishment: the continued need for support for research in the life sciences.
BIOETHICS
A political alliance of bioprogessives on the left and the right can share a commitment to the continued growth of knowledge as a basic humanistic value, the desire to use knowledge as a force for innovation, and an appreciation of innovation as a source of new wealth.
BIOETHICS
The first ever human recipient of a stem cell transplant and the three-judge panel that recently reversed the ban on federal stem cell funding both had to rely on their own best angels in the absence of absolutes.
BIOETHICS
A new approach to testing the genes of early-stage fetuses could radically alter the experience of pregnancy and parenting from as early as five weeks, leading to a potentially dangerous moral quandary.
BIOETHICS
The debate over embryonic stem cell research has been wrought with hype. Here are the top five over-hyped claims made by critics, and why they are wrong.
NEUROSCIENCE
Optogenetics opens the door to understanding how specific types of neurons contribute to brain function, but the ethics of using it in humans needs serious consideration.
TRANSHUMANISM
Nicholas Agar’s new book explores the ethical implications of the use of present and future technologies to enhance human minds, bodies, and experiences. Agar raises enormous and never-finally-answerable questions about the end—or perhaps, better, ends—of human beings.
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
Experts discuss the ethics of synthetic biology and emerging technology at the Center for American Progress
Bioethics
Arthur Caplan reviews Worst Case Bioethics, and advances the case for a national philosophy of medicine for bioethics.
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE
Why what you think you know about agricultural biotechnology may be wrong.
LIFE SCIENCES
Public policy makers need to manage the risks and rewards of this promising new life sciences industry, particularly with an eye on the global context.
BIOETHICS
The idea of informed consent has grown up, and it’s time to rethink the reasoning behind the consent system for tissue donation, writes Jonathan Moreno.
BIOETHICS
The true measure of a clinical trial’s worth is not whether it provides dying patients access to unproven medications, but rather, whether it produces a bountiful yield of knowledge that empowers future healthcare providers.
BIOETHICS
A welcome focus on pragmatism over philosophizing adds new challenges the commission’s task to move ideas move from recommendation to implementation.
BIOETHICS
It has been two weeks since the White House announced the members of its bioethics commission. Here, the authors argue for a progressive approach to bioethics, because the core idea of progress is closely associated with the modern idea of science, and bioethics itself embodies a progressive spirit.
BIOETHICS
Members will address questions that knit together policies for expanding scientific innovation, expanding access to quality health care, and protecting citizens from harm.
Last week, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) introduced a bill that would codify the bedrock bioethical safeguards for federally-funded human embryonic stem cell research. These provisions reflect the guidelines that have been in effect at the National Institutes of Health since [...]
BIOETHICS
Frustrations over delays in reviewing stem cell lines are understandable, but eight years of Bush administration rules merely delayed the necessary ethics considerations.
Science Progress and American Progress's Doing What Works project teamed up to produce a set of policy proposals that the Obama administration and Congress can adopt to reinvest in the building blocks of American science, innovation, and economic competitiveness. Read the overview of the five reports.
Science Progress proceeds from the propositions that scientific inquiry is among the finest expressions of human excellence, that it is a crucial source of human flourishing, a critical engine of economic growth, and must be dedicated to the common good. Scientific inquiry entails global responsibilities. It should lead to a more equitable, safer, and healthier future for all of humankind.