Some people dispute the relative importance of issues in genetics and biotechnology for the future of bioethics, either because they think the problems are time-limited or because they give priority to issue of human rights and social justice in health care. In fact, the special historical standing of genetic issue s in bioethics reflects four … Read more

Biologists of aging and the agencies that support them are in active pursuit of interventions designed to compress, slow, or arrest the human aging process. The achievement of such interventions will have a profound impact on many social institutions, from individual families to the health care system. To ensure that everyone benefits equitably from that … Read more

Slowing the aging process would be one of the most dramatic and momentous ways of enhancing human beings. It is also one that mainstream science is on the brink of pursuing. The state of the science, together with its possible impact, make it an important example for how to think about research into all enhancement … Read more

When a patient refuses to inform relatives of their risk for genetic disease, the genetic healthcare professional is faced with conflicting ethical obligations. On one side of the issue is the obligation to respect and protect patients’ right to privacy. On the other side is the obligation to prevent harm and promote the welfare of … Read more

An international group of more than 50 biogerontologists—scientists who conduct research on the biology of aging—have launched a war on a burgeoning anti-aging medicine movement.They seek to discredit what they regard as the pseudoscience of practitioners and entrepreneurs that purvey hormone injections,special mineral waters and other services and products purported to combat the effects of … Read more

The debate over growth hormone replacement in older adults reflects a set of contextual issues that are deeper than clinical concerns over the risks and efficacy of the intervention. One question that is central to the public and professional acceptance of growth hormone replacement asks whether the human aging process is an appropriate target for … Read more

Genotyping tests for molecular mutations associated with clinical syndromes increasingly allow clinicians to identify health risks before clinical problems occur, sometimes making prevention possible. The clinical use of these tests, however, can create moral problems for families and serious health policy challenges for communities. Those issues, in turn, complicate the professional ethics of genetic testing … Read more

Researchers have announced “the first case of human germline genetic modification resulting in normal healthy children.”* Specifically, the researchers transplanted ooplasm from donor eggs into the eggs of women whose infertility was due to ooplasmic defects. One side effect of those transplants was the transfer of mitochondria, introducing new mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) into the eggs. … Read more

On October 1, 1988, thirty-five years after co-discovering the structure of the DNA molecule, Dr. James Watson launched an unprecedented experiment in American science policy. In response to a reporter’s question at a press conference, he unilaterally set aside 3 to 5 percent of the budget of the newly launched Human Genome Project to support … Read more

The promise and potential of human embryonic stem cell research evoke profound clinical enthusiasm1- 3; the embryonic human origins of such cells warrants an equally profound ethical concern. The ethical issues are not primarily matters of scientific fact nor of political belief. Consequently, these issues cannot adequately be addressed simply by reference to the biology of … Read more