Science and ethics through film

A workshop series to reflect on scientific advances and ethical issues.

PhD students at the Roslin Institute were invited to take part in a workshop series to reflect on the science and ethics brought by advances such as genome sequencing and stem cell research.

The course, ‘What science for the future and what future for science?’, in February and March, included four film screenings followed by discussions.

The films shown were Soylent Green (1973), Gattaca (1997), The Island (2005), and Never let me go (2010).

At the end of the course, participants were asked to write an essay about their reflections. This will be assessed by a Roslin committee, based on the writing quality and the ideas addressed.

The winning essay will be published in the Genetics Society newsletter and the winner and second and third runners-up will receive a voucher.

This was the sixth recurrence of the workshop in nine years.