Human embryo research: INSERM to ponder ethics

Inserm 2016 Host Laboratories and Research Programs

Cannabinoid receptors are the targets of the psychoactive component of the plant Cannabis sativa (marijuana), delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Type-1 cannabinoid receptors (CB1) are the G protein coupled receptors most abundantly expressed in the brain and mediate most of the effects of THC. Our recent work demonstrated that CB1 receptors are expressed in many different brain cells where the...

HIV research: enhancing engagement to improve ethics

Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics

There are an increasing number of medical research studies involving children, including many long-term birth cohort studies. Involving children raises many issues, and little is known about children’s own views. This study explored children’s views (N = 5,851) on participation in a long-term screening study for type 1 diabetes. The results show that children 10 to 13 years of age have in gener...

Functions of Human-to-Human Interpretation in Ethics

Anthropology is considered one of the most important philosophical issues and a platform for moral discussions. In this study, to explain the nature of man, three interpretations have been expressed: “interpretation of mankind as nature”, which took place in the period of modernism, according to which man is a creature equal to nature; “Interpretation of mankind as God” which arises from the te...

Human embryo research in France.

The French law on bioethics, voted upon in July 1994, is going to be revised. This is the occasion for France to reconsider its position concerning research on human embryos, which is currently prohibited in France, as it is in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. However, such research is authorised in other European countries such as the UK, Spain, Belgium, Italy and The Netherlands. The establi...