Brain-computer interfaces have the potential to transform some people’s lives, but they raise a host of ethical issues, too.
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Brain-computer interface devices have the potential to boost users’ autonomy, especially for people who experience paralysis. But that comes with risks, as well.
Vaccine policies fall on a spectrum, from mandates to recommendations. Deciding what to use and when is not so much a science but a balancing act between personal autonomy and public good.
The HeLa line of immortal human epithelial cancer cells was derived from cells taken from Henrietta Lacks when she was a cancer patient in 1951.
(Wellcome Collection: Anne Weston, Francis Crick Institute)
The settlement is a long-awaited moment of victory for Henrietta Lacks and her family. But the battle for justice in genetic and medical research is not over yet.
A few days after successful fertilization, an embryo becomes a rapidly dividing ball of cells called a blastocyst.
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Scientists can create viable eggs from two male mice. In the wake of CRISPR controversies and restrictive abortion laws, two experts start a dialogue on ethical research in reproductive biology.
The decision-making capacity of people under 18 would be assessed on a case-by-case basis by medical practitioners.
Participants in biobank studies are often asked for broad consent to use their data.
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Biobanks collect and store large amounts of data that researchers use to conduct a wide range of studies. Making sure participants understand what they’re getting into can help build trust in science.
Ethics decisions are among the hardest hospital staff need to make.
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Hospital ethics committees and consultants do not make decisions for others, but their input can help support doctors and patients navigate difficult dilemmas.
When Peter Singer first published Animal Liberation in 1975, he wasn’t aware of climate change. But the new book, Animal Liberation Now, argues eating plants will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Scientists created monkey embryo-like structures and implanted them, although no fetuses formed.
(Shutterstock)
In April, scientists implanted synthetic monkey embryos in female monkeys. While none of them developed into fetuses, this is a new development that raises important ethical questions.
An impossible sight – but maybe not for long.
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Early adopters have started using ChatGPT to assist with mundane tasks like writing sick certificates and patient letters.
Anti-abortion protesters demonstrate in front of the Supreme Court in 1985, the 12th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.
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Scientific and public uproar resulted when the Chinese scientist announced the births of the first human babies with heritable edits to their genes. A new documentary reexamines the saga.
Brain-computer interfaces raise many ethical questions about how and whether they should be used for certain applications.
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From warfare to entertainment and VR, brain-computer interface development has extended beyond prosthetics for patients with disabilities. Missing is full ethical consideration of the consequences.
A new biotech partnership could bring the first baby thylacine to life within 10 years. But de-extinction is controversial – should we even be doing this?
Mouse emobryo model in the lab from day 1 to 8.
The Wizemann Institute of Science
In a huge milestone, researchers have grown a mouse embryo entirely from stem cells. Could humans be next?
A limited supply of donor organs, paired with a massive demand for transplants, has fuelled the global organ trafficking industry, which exploits poor, underprivileged and persecuted members of society as a source of organs to be purchased by wealthy transplant tourists.
(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
China’s industrial-scale organ trafficking practice has been executing prisoners of conscience and using their organs for transplantation for decades. This is known as forced organ harvesting.
DNA is a trove of personal information that can be hard to keep track of and protect.
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Both Macron and Madonna have expressed concerns about genetic privacy. As DNA collection and sequencing becomes increasingly commonplace, what may seem paranoid may instead be prescient.
Visiting Professor in Biomedical Ethics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, University of Melbourne; Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford
Professor of Bioethics & Medicine, Sydney Health Ethics, Haematologist/BMT Physician, Royal North Shore Hospital and Director, Praxis Australia, University of Sydney