Hastings-science journalism event; next CRISPR drugs, AI in doctor's office
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** January 4, 2024
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** Does the U.S. Endangered Species Act Permit Deliberate Extinction?
Perhaps in rare cases, write Hastings scholars
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That question was the focus of an invited comment in Science by The Hastings Center’s
Gregory E. Kaebnick and Athmeya Jayaram, as well as James P. Collins of Arizona State University, on the 50^th anniversary of the landmark environmental law. New genomic technologies could enable the deliberate extinction of dangerous invasive species. In spirit, “the ESA clearly places an extremely high value on species and rules out eradication in most cases,” they write. “The exception made for insect pests shows, however, that some goals, such as preventing the enormous public health harms associated with some insects, might override that high value. Read their comment in Science ([link removed](48).-,Genome%20editing%20and%20deliberate%20extinction,By%20Gregory%20E.%20Kaebnick%2C%20James%20P.%20Collins%2C%20Athmeya%20Jayaram,-Advancing%20genome%20editing) .
Kaebnick, Jayaram, and Collins are investigators on a project that explores the ethics of deliberate extinction, supported by the National Science Foundation. Learn about the project ([link removed]) .
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** 50 Years of Mass Incarceration: Calls to Action for Bioethics
Expand focus on community-wide injustices
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Bioethicists have long engaged with questions of health justice for incarcerated people, including informed consent for those participating in research. But it’s time to recognize mass incarceration itself as a bioethics issue that affects entire communities and families, writes
Sean E. Valles of Michigan State University in the Hastings Center Report. He argues that this bioethics issue should be addressed in medical education, identifies opportunities for bioethicists to guide hospitals’ interactions with law enforcement officials, and calls on bioethicists to be in conversation with medical and nursing students and health care professionals about these groups’ advocacy efforts concerning structural racism, police violence, and mass incarceration. Read the Hastings Center Report article ([link removed]) .
Two commentaries respond to Valles:
Jennifer Elyse James of the University of California, San Francisco, sees incarceration as a bioethical crisis and abolition of the U.S. system of incarceration as a moral obligation. Read more ([link removed]) . (Subscription required for full text.)
Homer Venters, the former chief medical officer of the New York City Jail System and currently a court-appointed monitor of health services in jails and prisons, writes that “the field of bioethics can bring important expertise and resources to bear on undoing the error of mass incarceration” and recommends that this effort be “informed by the perspectives of those experiencing the disparate housing, health, policing, and many other imposed conditions that sustain mass incarceration.” Read more ([link removed]) . (Subscription required for full text.)
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** Artificial Wombs Raise Many Questions
The science is both wonderful and worrisome
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Artificial wombs are getting closer to being tested with premature human babies, raising hopes for saving their lives. But the technology also poses difficult questions about abortion, the legal status of a fetus moved from a maternal womb to an artificial one, and when, exactly “birth” occurs. “What troubles me is that, as usual, we move forward with technology before the legal landscape is ready, before we know how to handle these tensions,” said Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky in an interview with the National Post. “I’m not a nay-sayer. I’m just a ‘let’s figure this out’ sayer.” Read the National Post article ([link removed]) .
** Upcoming Events
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What is a 'Serious Genetic Condition'? January 12, 2024 ([link removed]) .
Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will deliver the keynote address at the eighth annual reproductive ethics conference at the Institute for Bioethics and Health Humanities, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston.
The Intersection of AI and Health Care. January 18, 2024 ([link removed]) .
Hastings Center President Vardit Ravitsky will speak at the 2024 Rothenberg Speaker Series, a virtual event.
VIEW EVENTS ([link removed])
The Hastings Center seeks to ensure responsible health and science policy and practice. We work to secure the wisest possible use of emerging technologies and fair, compassionate, and just health care for people across their lifespan.
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