Ethics Prize Winners

March 2014

Dr Doug Vernimmen repeated his course on Ethics about what scientific issues to expect in the future and how we would solve these.

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 used well known films to prompt discussion groups that were followed by students writing an essay of 2-4 pages. The format was presented as a competition within the Institute with two winners receiving a prize.

Congratulations to Anuj (pictured right-top) and Selene (pictured right-bottom). The first prize winner, Anuj Sehgal, was also shortlisted for the annual Wellcome Trust Writing Prize.