Debating the Science and Ethics of IVF: Emma Waters vs. Ruxandra Teslo
A genomics PhD and conservative bioethicist debate the ethics of in vitro fertilization and discuss recent scientific advancements in reproductive medicine.
Bioethics
First Pig Kidney Transplant Patient Goes Home
Potentially good news for the nearly 100,000 Americans on the transplant waiting list.
Parents, Not the Government, Should Make IVF Decisions
Two-thirds of Americans oppose the Alabama ruling that claims frozen embryos are equivalent to children.
Don't Keep Parents in the Dark About the Genetic Risks in Their Families
No, it's not ethical to keep them from potentially lifesaving information about their babies—and themselves.
Researchers Create Artificial Eggs, Chimeric Sperm, and Synthetic Embryos
All of these advances are in mice for now, but maybe these breakthroughs can one day be adapted as human therapies.
Elon Musk, Artificial Wombs, and the Impending Shortage of Mars Colonists
"Synthetic wombs make having kids much faster, easier, cheaper, and more accessible."
Everyone Deserves To Benefit from Medical Innovation. Yes, Even People Who Did Bad Things.
The New York Times and The Washington Post shamed the recipient of a pig heart transplant for committing a crime 35 years ago.
Scientists Have Created Human-Monkey Embryos, and That's Ethically OK
The eventual goal is human organ transplantation.
UK Government Approves Challenge Trials For Research on Covid-19
The initiative could pave the way for other uses of challenge trials in the UK and beyond. It might even stimulate reconsideration of other policies banning payment for voluntary risk-taking that could save many lives.
Human Challenge Trials for Coronavirus Vaccines Are Ethical and Should Be Initiated Quickly
Volunteers would earn cash for the risks they take on our behalf.
The 'False Debate' About Reopening the Economy Is the One That Ignores the Enormous Human Cost of Sweeping COVID-19 Control Measures
A New York Times Magazine forum highlights the moral implications of suppressing economic activity.
Mosquitoes Genetically Engineered To Resist Dengue Fever
Gene drives could spread this beneficial trait through wild mosquito populations.
Rogue Chinese Genome Editor Sentenced to Three Years in Prison
He Jiankui's moral failings should not be used as an excuse to delay a technology that could prevent inheritable diseases.
Genetically Modified Babies Are Ethically OK
A U.K. bioethicist makes the case for deploying CRISPR gene-editing to modify human embryos in the next two years.
Bioethicist and Life Extension Opponent Daniel Callahan Has Died
A fierce, but friendly, antagonist in various bioethical controversies
Russian Researcher Plans To Gene-Edit Embryos To Cure Deafness
Is that kind of gene-editing unethical?
Everyone Got the Dutch Teen 'Euthanasia' Story Wrong
Plus: Oakland decriminalizes mushrooms, and the ethics of "doxxing"
Gene-Edited Kids Can Be Safely Released into the Wild Human Gene Pool
Despite bioethical handwringing, they pose no special risks to future generations
Global Gene-Edited Baby Ban Urged
Why should an international panel of experts get to decide if you will be allowed to gene-edit your kids?
The New York Times Condescends to Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing Fans
If Times editors don't want to learn about their genetics, then they simply shouldn't take the tests.
Should We Be Worried About How Gene-Edited Kids Will Affect Future Generations?
A new international commission will consider the pros and cons of human genome editing.
Government-Enforced Eugenics Is Always Wrong
Parents, not bureaucrats, have the moral authority to decide whether to gene-edit prospective progeny.
Is Gene-Editing Babies Now 'Monstrously Immoral'?
Flinging around such terms is not helpful and does not advance the debate.
First Genome-Edited Babies?
If it's safe, then it's ethical. No need for a global moratorium.
Should the Government Ban Parents Using IVF from Picking Their Kid's Eye Color?
There is no compelling ethical reason to limit this exercise of reproductive liberty.
H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., RIP
A gentleman, a philosopher, a physician, a proud "Texian," a brilliant raconteur, and a clear-eyed defender of liberty has died.
Freaking Out Over 'Designer Babies,' Again
An NPR report on "three-parent babies" in Ukraine provokes bioethical handwringing.
Don't Overregulate CRISPR Genome Editing
"Governments should follow the principle of regulatory parsimony," two bioethicists argue.
Will the New '100 Percent Fatal' Mind-Uploading Service Work?
Do you want to be in control group or the experimental group?
Want to Hack Your Own Body? Neo.Life's Jane Metcalfe Is Making It Easier Than Ever
Wired's co-founder talks about the "Neobiological Revolution" and what happens when computer science and engineering meet evolution.
Selling Blood Plasma Is Not Unethical
What's immoral is telling people they can't get paid for it.
GMO Opponents Are Immoral, Argues Purdue University President Mitch Daniels
It's past time to tell your anti-GMO friends, family and neighbors they are helping to kill poor people.
Are Brain Implants to Control Moods Ethical?
If neuropharmaceuticals are ethical, so are machine-brain interface technologies.
Draining Millennials of Their Blood to Rejuvenate Boomers
Alkahest's vampire cure for aging experiment yields equivocal results
First Whole Body Transplant Is 'Imminent'
In the case of "head transplants" - it's better to be the "donor" than the recipient.
Vaccines, Peter Thiel and the Fine Art of the Journalistic Hatchet Job
Never let the facts get in the way of a good agenda-driven story.
Transhumanism and Libertarianism Are Entirely Compatible
People seeking to flourish should have the freedom to enhance their bodies and minds
First Gene-Edited Human Embryos in the U.S.
Breakthrough that could cure genetic diseases before embryos are implanted in their mothers' wombs.
Should the Government Limit What Women Can Learn from Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing?
Bioethicists in Britain say yes. But there are no such limits in the U.S. yet.
Skin Cells Into Babies: Bioethicists Freakout Again
Will most babies be created using in vitro gametogenesis in 40 years?
Should You Be Compensated for Your Medical Waste?
Especially if it turns out to be valuable?
Is the Quest to 'Solve Death' Selfishly Immoral?
Some bioethicists think that 75 years of life is enough for you.
Of Artificial Mice and Men Embryos
Creation of artificial mouse embryos provokes bioethical handwringing about designer babies
Of Course People Should Have Access to Their Genetic Data!
I don't want to have a "conversation" with regulators; I want them to get the hell out of the way
