Biotech Ethics BLOG
This blog is about ethical issues in the biotechnology industry. That includes all 3 main areas of that industry: health biotech, food biotech, and industrial biotech. (The last two are particularly important, and don't get enough attention.)
Unlike my Business Ethics Blog, this one will focus on aggregating information, rather than offering much commentary.
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Author Archives: Chris MacDonald
Pausing Bird Flu Studies
Breaking news, from Nature: the principle investigators of the recent avian flu transmission studies (along with a couple of dozen co-authors) have publicly vowed to “pause” their research for 60 days. What’a really interesting, though, are their reasons. They want … Continue reading
Posted in dual-use, ethics, health, regulation, risk, virology
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Flu Research and the Pursuit of Deadly Knowledge
One of the most fundamental ethical questions facing the world of science and technology has to do with whether some knowledge is so dangerous that it simply ought not be sought. That, essentially, is the question posed by recent research … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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GM Alfalfa: “Approved” or “Deregulated”?
The US Department of Agriculture has issued a decision allowing widespread planting of genetically modified alfalfa. See this article, by Andrew Pollack for the NYT: U.S. Approves Genetically Modified Alfalfa Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced on Thursday that he would … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, GMO, regulation
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Biofuels Underwhelm
A new study has confirmed what common sense already made seem likely, according to this story by Dina Fine Maron for the NYT: Biofuels of No Benefit to Military — RAND A new analysis presented to Congress yesterday paints a … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, industrial biotechnology
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Canada’s Proposed “Bill C-474″
A “private members bill” currently before Canada’s parliament will, if passed, require that “an analysis of potential harm to export markets be conducted before the sale of any new genetically engineered seed is permitted” in Canada. (FYI, a bill that … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, GMO, regulation, risk
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Unethical Lizard
Is this lizard unethical? From National Geographic, see the Self-Cloning Lizard. According to National Geo, …the newfound Leiolepis ngovantrii is no run-of-the-mill reptile—the all-female species reproduces via cloning, without the need for male lizards. Since so many people apparently think … Continue reading
Posted in cloning, ethics
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Synthetic Biology: Ready, Set, Go!
By Andrew Pollack, for the NYT: U.S. Bioethics Commission Gives Green Light to Synthetic Biology The president’s bioethics commission says there is no need to temporarily halt research or to impose new regulations on the controversial new field known as … Continue reading
Posted in ethics, regulation, synthetic biology
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Ethics, Policy, and Synthetic Biology
By Jef Akst, writing for The Scientist: Q&A: Ethics chair on synthetic biology The Scientist spoke with chair Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania, about the commission’s conclusions that, despite the potential risks of creating synthetic organisms, the … Continue reading
Posted in ethics, regulation, risk, synthetic biology
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No Gene Patents, Please: US Dept of Justice
Needless to say, this story is rather a big deal. By Andrew Pollack, for the NYT: U.S. Says Genes Should Not Be Eligible for Patents Reversing a longstanding policy, the federal government said on Friday that human and other genes … Continue reading
Posted in genes, patents, policy
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Cloned Foods, Europe, and Scientific Literacy
By Henry Miller, for the WSJ: The Cloned Cow Has Left the Barn Benighted European politicians seem determined to discourage certain innovations in food technology even when the rest of the world stands as living—and eating—proof of their safety. The … Continue reading
Posted in cloning, ethics, Europe
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