Greenflame
Jottings on science, religion, technology, pop culture, photography and faith from the Aotearoa New Zealand
Category: Bioethics/Biotech
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Currently reading Ronald Cole-Turner’s survey paper “Design and Destiny: Philosophical and Religious Perspectives on Human Germline Modification” prepared for “Science and Religion: Global Perspectivesâ€, June 4-8, 2005, in Philadelphia and available here. It’s got some stuff in it on “preimplantation genetic diagnosis”, which starts with IVF but incorporates genetic testing of the embyro(s) prior to…
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From Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly a story about the implications of the excess embryos produced in by technological processes such as IVF. There’s both a link to the video clip of the story as well as the transcript of the clip. See Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly . COVER STORY . Excess Embryos . July 4,…
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From Science & Theology News : Give an organ, get an organ. Stephen Giles, a Canadian social worker, thinks people who volunteer to be potential organ donors should be placed high on the waiting list if they are ever in need of an organ.
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I love it when I find poems that connect with my research. Charlie’s poem Crossing over at Borrowed Dust hit the mark today, as I filled out my end of year PhD report. Especially the verse, Elegant double-helix, Jacob’s spiral ladder: hides, convoluted and coiled, betwixt deo and imago, bears the inscrutable runes of dreamers…
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Following on from the previous posting on rejecting an ethical-doctrinal dualism, Theodore Jennings Jr’s comments on the ethical project seem apt. In theological ethics, it is generally unwise to approach specific ethical dilemmas in the absence of a wider perspective that will help reveal what may be at stake or even how a particular issue…
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The teachers I’ve learnt most from have been those who integrated both doctrine and ethics. Indeed, they didn’t see a dualism between the two. Today I was reading an essay by Stanley Hauerwas that summed up this idea of integration nicely. In critiquing the divide he says, Those trained to do theology ‘proper’, however, seldom…
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Interview by Heather J. Smith with Christian bioethicist Ronald Cole-Turner on the ethics of designer babies. See: Science & Theology News : Customized kids may be the wave of the future. (Smith)How might this impact human nature? (Cole-Turner)It’s widely said that human germline modification would be a violation of human dignity. I challenge: If you…
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Nice piece here on a guy with a cochlear implant, Michael Chorost, and the positives of being cyborg. See: eastbayexpress.com | Culture | Hi, I’m Bionic | 2005-06-29 “When you become a cyborg, you’re no less human than you were before,” he says. “You’re differently human.” He’s written a book, Rebuilt : How Becoming Part…
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Article on “embryo adoption” (“or “embryo donation” in some circles), the practice of couples (often conservative Christians) adopting frozen embryos left over from fertility treatments. See: Stem cell opponents enter fertility crusade – Health & Science – International Herald Tribune.
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The Bioethics Council (Toi te Taiao) is currently looking for submissions and dialogue on the issue of xenotransplantation. From their web site, Xenotransplantation – animal-to-human transplantsIn recent years a new type of technology has hit the headlines – xenotransplantation. In human medicine, xenotransplantation means using living non-human animal cells, tissues or organs to treat humans.…