During the seminar this week we discussed an elusive concept. The concept is supposed to be about ordinary people, but it is a concept that ordinary people hardly use about themselves. We talked about autonomy, which is a central notion in ethical discussions about how patients and research participants should be treated. They should be […]
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The second issue of the newsletter from CRB and BBMRI.se is now available: Biobank perspectives: current issues in biobank ethics and law This April issue contains four interesting news items about: New international research cooperation on genetic risk information. The new Swedish law on registers for research on heritage, environment and health. The legislative process […]
Continue readingPhilosophy has an aura of pretentiousness. Philosophers seem to make such ambitious claims about the essence of everything. About morality, about mind, about language… usually without doing any empirical research! From where do they derive their claims? Are they sitting in armchairs just awaiting “truths” from out of nowhere? Is philosophy a form of “easy science” […]
Continue readingPreconception genetic carrier tests can inform a person if he/she is carrier of a recessive disease. In case the partner is also a carrier of the same disease, the couple has an increased risk (usually a 1 in 4 risk) to have a child with this disease. Current research in genetics works on developing tests […]
Continue readingIn medical ethics a distinction is commonly made between negative and positive autonomy. One’s negative autonomy is exercised in refusing medical care or refusing some specific treatment. Positive autonomy is the right to choose a specific treatment (within what is available and allowed). Expressing a preference for not being informed about some medical condition seems […]
Continue readingModern society seems to be driven by skepticism. As philosophers systematically doubted the senses by enumerating optical and other illusions, our human ability to think for ourselves and take responsibility for our professional activities is doubted by enumerating scandals and cases of misconduct in the past. The logic is simple: Since human practices have a […]
Continue readingSeeing things with our own eyes, not just hearing about them, makes a difference. Words certainly arouse images, but they are our own images of what we never saw. This is a challenge for the rapid development in biotechnology. Genetically modified organisms are created, in vitro fertilization is practiced, stem cells are grown, and biobanks […]
Continue readingInforming individuals about their genetic risks of disease can be viewed as empowering them to make autonomous decisions about their future health. But we respond to risk information not only as rational decision makers, but also with our bodies, feelings and attitudes. An American study investigated elderly people whose genetic test results showed a predisposition […]
Continue readingPhilosophers often put humans on display as beings that have some unique quality, like rationality or conceptual powers. And conversely they present animals as beings that lack that quality. What comparison underlies such a notion of “human positivity” and “animal negativity”? One could suspect that the dualism arises through a human-centered comparison. As if intellectual […]
Continue readingTissues of the body originally form when “naïve” undifferentiated embryonic stem cells differentiate to form the “mature” cells of specific tissues: liver cells, brain cells, skin cells, and so on. The mature cells are then locked in their differentiated forms, as if they met their fate. I recently mentioned that Yamanaka and Gurdon were awarded […]
Continue readingTHE ETHICS BLOG
A research blog from the Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB)
We write for researchers, healthcare staff, officials, politicians, patient organisations and anyone interested in ethics.
We comment on the research ethics and bioethics debate and discuss our own research. We address issues from current debates in the research community and in the press.
MEET THE EDITOR
Pär Segerdahl is editor of the Ethics Blog and Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics.