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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Category Archives: ethics
Should Human Cloning Be Permitted?
Over a decade ago, I wrote a short piece called “Yes, Human Cloning Should Be Permitted,” published in the Annals of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. The piece was a response to an earlier article, by … Continue reading
Posted in cloning, ethics
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Cloned Horses Can Now Compete
The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (Fédération Équestre Internationale, or FEI) has announced a reversal of its previous decision to ban cloned horses from competition. The FEI’s statment, quoted here, includes the following: “The FEI will not forbid participation of … Continue reading
Posted in cloning, ethics, genes, sport
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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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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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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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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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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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