Greenflame
Jottings on science, religion, technology, pop culture, photography and faith from the Aotearoa New Zealand
Category: Bioethics/Biotech
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A couple of links. The first to a robot that is controlled by the behaviour of a slime mould that has been integrated with control circuitry, and the second link a robot (EcoBot II) that is powered by a Microbial Fuel Cell that produces energy from dead flies and rotten fruit. See New Scientist Breaking…
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Toi te Taiao: New Zealand’s Bioethics Council has their reports on xenotransplantion online now. From a quick skim through there’s some interesting stuff there, including the range of views that Christians have about humanity’s relationship with the biosphere. A useful resource if you want a sample of how different cultural and spiritual grouping in NZ…
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Back in April I posted Greenflame: Xenotransplantation public dialogue – animal-to-human transplants and the Bioethics Council’s call for public input. Some of their recommendations to the Government on that subject can be read at NZ Herald – Animal transplants into humans given go ahead – 13 Dec 2005 – National News.
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Article in the NZ Herald on the NZ Catholic Church’s response to the new developments here with respect to pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). Includes some brief material at the end of the article describing the technology. See Catholic Church sees dilemmas in screening of embryos – 13 Dec 2005 – Religion and beliefs.
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Related to the previous posting Wired Magazine has a three-part series out on reproductive technologies titled “Tempest in a Test Tube”. The articles are here: Wired News: Baby-Making Backlash Looms Wired News: Hunting for Good Human Eggs Wired News: Science Makes Sex Obsolete
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The NZ Ministry of Health has just released a discussion document concerning the use of embryonic stem cells in research and is inviting submissions (by 3 March, 2006). You can get the information at the link below, including PDF files of the discussion paper and submission forms. Guidelines on Using Cells from Established Human Embryonic…
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Now, I’d so want to be there. It’s nice to live in NZ but it sucks when trying to get to things like this. Now, a consortium of scientists in Scotland has put together a collection of films related to the ethics of cloning to engage the general public in these contentious and frequently misunderstood…
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A couple of short term exhibits put on by the Museum of New Zealand – Te Papa Tongarewa (Wellington, NZ) The Genetic Revolution. (3 September 2005 – 23 January 2006, Wellington) The Biotechnology Roadshow. (13 October 2005 – 01 April 2006, various locations in NZ) Anyone know if they are worth going to?
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On the issue of human cloning in “Human Cloning: Religious Responses” Ronald Cole-Turner says, There is something far worse than theological disagreement, and that is theological silence. Something to think about with respect to a great many other issues too.
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Yesterday I did my two (mini-)lectures for the bioethics block course at Carey. The first lecture “Theology and Science : where are we today?” looked at the current state of science and religion/theology interaction. Alerted by Jason I tracked down Time Magazine for 15 August with its cover story “Evolution Wars” (& related story “Face-Off:…