Ethics, Science, and Public Policy

Cloning: ethics and public policy.

Science and public policy.

Stem cells: science, policy, and ethics.

Human embryonic stem cells offer the promise of a new regenerative medicine in which damaged adult cells can be replaced with new cells. Research is needed to determine the most viable stem cell lines and reliable ways to promote the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into specific cell types (neurons, muscle cells, etc). To create new cell lines, it is necessary to destroy preimplantati...

Ideology, science, and public policy.

I deologies—strong beliefs based on untestable assumptions—are the antithesis of science. Whether economic (the ‘‘invisible hand of the market’’ will solve social inequities ‘‘in the long run’’), religious (‘‘we’’ hold the sole truth of a divine entity), or political (our way is the best governance for assuring liberty and justice), these kinds of widespread beliefs are acceptable in individual...

Enhancement technology, ethics, and public policy.

Introduction Gene technology has spawned a wide range of controversies since the early days of recombinant DNA research in the 1960s. Many scientific and ethical issues are discussed throughout this symposium. A particularly troublesome set of questions arises from the uses of gene technology to change personal characteristics that are within the range of normal but for which some kind of impro...