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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The Business Ethics Blog (by Chris MacDonald)
The Research Ethics Blog (by Nancy Walton and Chris MacDonald)
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Ethics of Complementary & Alternative MedicinePages on this Site:
Ethics for the Biotech Industry (my scholarly research)-
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Author Archives: Chris MacDonald
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
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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Monsanto’s Business Troubles
The Twittersphere and anti-biotech blogosphere have recently seen a flurry of joyful announcements of financial trouble at biotech giant Monsanto. Rumours of the companies death are, as they say, greatly exaggerated, but it is true that the company has suffered … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, ethics, GMO
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Canada to Gene Testers: Come On In!
From the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ): Federal government says regulation of consumer genetic tests is unnecessary: Industry forecasts indicate that Canadians will soon face a marketing avalanche to persuade them to purchase personal genetic test kits. But while American … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Biotech, Innovation & Clinical Trials
Here’s a blog entry, over on the Research Ethics Blog, that ought to be of interest to people interested in biotech: A Tale of Two Cousins: Tragedy and the Clinical Trial Recently the New York Times published a story about … Continue reading
Posted in clinical trials, ethics, genes, health, pharmaceuticals
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Genes, Height, and Complexity
A new study published in Nature suggests that, while height definitely has a strong genetic component, the contribution of genes to height is far from simple. See the report here, via Scientific American: Complex Genetic Trait Research Reaches New Heights … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Pre-Pregnancy Genetic Testing
A California company called Counsyl Inc. is the latest contender in the effort to push genetic testing into the consumer mainstream. See this story, by Michael Totty for the WSJ: A Genetic Test for Prospective Parents Proponents of universal prepregnancy … Continue reading
Posted in embryos, ethics, genetic testing, IVF, risk
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No Decision About GM Salmon
Given the controversy over AquaBounty’s GM salmon, I can only assume this headline is sarcastic: By Kim Carollo, for ABC News, Surprise: FDA Panel Unable to Reach Conclusion on Genetically Modified Salmon After two days of hearings, several members of … Continue reading
Posted in ethics, GMO, regulation
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Allowing / Permitting / Forbidding GMO Labels
OK, so the FDA seems unlikely to require the probably-soon-to-be-approved GM salmon to be labelled. See this story by Lyndsey Layton, for the Washington Post: FDA rules won’t require labeling of genetically modified salmon …As the Food and Drug Administration … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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GM Rice and Intellectual Property
Are GM crops aimed at helping farmers, or corporate shareholders? Generalizing in that regard is probably a mistake. See, for instance, this story from The Sydney Morning Herald, Group produces GM rice A team of Australian scientists has genetically modified … Continue reading
Posted in genes, GMO, patents
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Biotech Ethics 