Ethics Course 2013

March 2013

In March 2013, Doug Vernimmen initiated a course on Ethics, entitled "What Science for the Future and What Future for Science", about what scientific issues to expect in the future and how we would solve these. 

The course kicks off with the following statement:

"Science has dramatically progressed since the full sequencing of the human genome a decade ago but also the research on stem cells. Stem cells can be differentiated in any cell type, giving new horizons for cell therapy but also in livestock. Together with the high throughput sequencing techniques, the secret of the genome can now be uncovered, which implies several ethical issues."

The course took place in four sessions with participants watching a different film each week*. It then finished with a discussion group meeting and the students writing an essay of 2-4 pages. The format was presented as a competition within the Institute with 3 winners receiving a prize. This year, 11 students took part of the course and winners were:

1st Prize winner: Eliza Wolfson "How sacred are you of Living?"

2nd Prize winner: Alexander Corbishley "What Science for the Future and What Future for Science?"

3rd Prize winner: Maeve Ballantyne "The Future of Science and Technology - will it save humanity or end it?"

*Ethics Course Films

• Soylent Green (1973), by Richard Fleischer (Novel "Make Room! Make Room!" By Harry Harrison in 1966).
• GATTACA (1997), by Andrew Niccol.
• The Island (2005), by Michael Bay.
• Never let me go (2010), by Mark Romanek (Novel "Never let me go" by Kazuo Ishiguro in 2005).

Genetics Society News

Congratulations to Eliza Wolfson whose winning article "How scared are you of living?" appears in issue 72 (January 2015) of Genetics Society News.

This edition of Genetics Society News is available online.