ethics
Searching for the origins of the ‘dark traits’ of humanity
We all know people who consistently display ethically, morally, and socially questionable behavior in everyday life. Personality psychologists refer to ...
Frozen embryos: Who owns them and do they have legal rights?
With the number of frozen embryos in the United States soaring into the millions, disputes over who owns them are ...
Machines that decide ‘who lives and who dies’? AI community pledges never to build them
Hundreds of companies and thousands of individuals, many of them researchers and engineers prominent in the fields of robotics and ...
We need transplantable organs. How far should we go to get them?
Human organs are vital to saving human lives, but how far should we go to create them? ...
Managed well, cattle feedlots can be the environmental and ethical smart choice
Although grass-fed is touted as the environmentally and ethically best choice for beef eaters, feedlots often outperform on both fronts ...
University student reflection: Let’s take a balanced ethical and scientific look at genetic engineering
Rapid advancements in the realm of gene editing are raising all sorts of questions with social and ethical implications. But ...
Kevin Folta looks back 5 years after release of controversial Séralini GMO rat study
The heavily criticized and retracted paper linked GMO consumption and glyphosate exposure to cancer in rats. The brouhaha that erupted ...
‘Designer babies’ just around the corner? More scare than science
As CRISPR technology advances, old fears about 'designer babies' resurface. But we are a long way from being able to ...
Suffering for the love of birds: A scientist’s battle to save birds — and now her career
PETA begins to harass and intimidate a rising researcher in the field of animal behavior, scientist Kevin Folta urges the ...
It’s time to talk about the ethics of CRISPR-edited human embryos
With groundbreaking human gene editing research moving forward, and human enhancement becoming a reality, decisions need to be made about ...
After early setbacks, gene therapy’s comeback nearly complete
After some horrifying early setbacks, gene therapy's back. Researchers have learned from early mistakes to make the therapy safer and ...
How human chimeras could revolutionize science and medicine
The NIH appears ready to fund scientists who want to make and study human chimeras. What can we hope to ...
Mitochondrial therapy—More than “three parent” babies—Stalls in ethical battle
Mitchondria DNA replacement is much more than "three parent babies." It might treat a wide range of diseases ...
Testing babies for genetic diseases: Are we ready for next generation screens?
New-generation sequencing may deliver faster answers for newborn screening, but what if they're not the right answers? ...
Sex not as simple as X and Y
Everybody assumed that the Y chromosome's sole purpose was to rigidly assign male sex. The truth is much more complicated ...
Psychological torture of terrorists: Experts followed dubious practices
Criticism of the psychological techniques used to pry information from suspected terrorists and other prisoners has led to a dramatic ...
Artificial DNA acts just like the real thing. Does that mean we should we make it?
We know we can create 'artificial DNA'. The real questions are: Should we? and To What end? Should there be ...
