bioethics

Some of the foundational studies in the field were neither ethical by today’s standards nor replicable. But we can do better.

The human cells, engineered to respond to blue light, influenced rat behavior when stimulated.

Researchers overseeing the clinical trial for the first FDA-approved oral contraceptive claimed the drug gave the Puerto Rican participants power over their family planning. Critics claimed the women were exploited.

Ancient stashes of animal bones, tools, and other artifacts are often dismissed as archaic garbage heaps, but the deposits provide glimpses of the cultural practices and environmental conditions of past Indigenous settlements.

In Chapter 1, “The Science of Animal Dreams,” author David M. Peña-Guzmán relays the history of researchers digging into the mental realities of nonhuman brains.

Research shows that humans aren’t the only animals whose imaginations run wild while they sleep.

Cloning and parthenogenesis of humans wouldn’t align with bioethical principles.

And how do scientists go about answering that question?

The Scientist spoke to Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory’s Jim Strickland about the institute’s new MDI Bioscience initiative to perform more drug testing and development in nonmammalian models.

The field of ancient DNA, which combines archaeology and anthropology with cutting-edge genetics, is requiring scientists to have frank conversations about when research is justified and who it benefits.

The primitive streak, a structure that emerges during mammalian and avian gastrulation, might be a byproduct rather than a landmark of the embryonic development process.

In the introduction, editor Marcelo Gleiser establishes the need for dialogue across the science-humanities divide in academia.

To solve modern problems, we must integrate the sciences and the humanities and think across these traditionally disparate disciplines.

In Chapter 6, author Henry T. Greely describes how news of the birth of gene-edited babies rocked a 2018 summit on human genome editing.

CRISPR and other innovations are likely to open up a wealth of new options for how people have children.

The guidance comes after two years of consulting with hundreds of stakeholders, including indigenous peoples, religious leaders, patient groups, and scientists.

Removal of the 14-day limit for culturing human embryos is one of the main changes in the revised recommendations from the International Society for Stem Cell Research.

A new ruling removes the requirement that grants and proposals using the material receive approval from an ethical review board, reverting to the process in place before 2019.

The National Academies’ report touches on ethical issues raised by new technologies such as brain organoids and human-animal chimeras, and suggests that current regulatory oversight is sufficient.