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Articles on Bioethics

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Brain-computer interfaces have the potential to transform some people’s lives, but they raise a host of ethical issues, too. Andriy Onufriyenko/Moment via Getty Images

Several companies are testing brain implants – why is there so much attention swirling around Neuralink? Two professors unpack the ethical issues

Brain-computer interface devices have the potential to boost users’ autonomy, especially for people who experience paralysis. But that comes with risks, as well.
Proof of COVID-19 vaccination was once required to access many venues during the pandemic. skaman306/Moment via Getty Images

COVID-19 vaccine mandates have come and mostly gone in the US – an ethicist explains why their messy rollout matters for trust in public health

Vaccine policies fall on a spectrum, from mandates to recommendations. Deciding what to use and when is not so much a science but a balancing act between personal autonomy and public good.
The HeLa line of immortal human epithelial cancer cells was derived from cells taken from Henrietta Lacks when she was a cancer patient in 1951. (Wellcome Collection: Anne Weston, Francis Crick Institute)

Settlement with family of Henrietta Lacks is an opportunity to reflect on inequalities in genetic research

The settlement is a long-awaited moment of victory for Henrietta Lacks and her family. But the battle for justice in genetic and medical research is not over yet.
A few days after successful fertilization, an embryo becomes a rapidly dividing ball of cells called a blastocyst. Juan Gaertner/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

Promising assisted reproductive technologies come with ethical, legal and social challenges – a developmental biologist and a bioethicist discuss IVF, abortion and the mice with two dads

Scientists can create viable eggs from two male mice. In the wake of CRISPR controversies and restrictive abortion laws, two experts start a dialogue on ethical research in reproductive biology.
Participants in biobank studies are often asked for broad consent to use their data. Science Photo Library - TEK IMAGE/Brand X Pictures via Getty Images

Researchers can learn a lot with your genetic information, even when you skip survey questions – yesterday’s mode of informed consent doesn’t quite fit today’s biobank studies

Biobanks collect and store large amounts of data that researchers use to conduct a wide range of studies. Making sure participants understand what they’re getting into can help build trust in science.
Brain-computer interfaces raise many ethical questions about how and whether they should be used for certain applications. Wenjin Chen/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images

Brain-computer interfaces could allow soldiers to control weapons with their thoughts and turn off their fear – but the ethics of neurotechnology lags behind the science

From warfare to entertainment and VR, brain-computer interface development has extended beyond prosthetics for patients with disabilities. Missing is full ethical consideration of the consequences.
A limited supply of donor organs, paired with a massive demand for transplants, has fuelled the global organ trafficking industry, which exploits poor, underprivileged and persecuted members of society as a source of organs to be purchased by wealthy transplant tourists. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Killing prisoners for transplants: Forced organ harvesting in China

China’s industrial-scale organ trafficking practice has been executing prisoners of conscience and using their organs for transplantation for decades. This is known as forced organ harvesting.
DNA is a trove of personal information that can be hard to keep track of and protect. Boris Zhitkov/Moment via Getty Images

Genetic paparazzi are right around the corner, and courts aren’t ready to confront the legal quagmire of DNA theft

Both Macron and Madonna have expressed concerns about genetic privacy. As DNA collection and sequencing becomes increasingly commonplace, what may seem paranoid may instead be prescient.

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