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| ART and Art in the Movies 2010by Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesAugust 25th, 2010Assisted reproductive technologies are a repeating theme this year in Hollywood, and the results seem to be decidedly mixed. |
| Time to Clean Up After Cloning Cattleby Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesAugust 17th, 2010The USDA is still committed to promoting livestock cloning, but recent bad publicity makes it clear that the technology remains unpopular, unnecessary, and unethical. |
| "Weak and Meaningless" Guidelines for UK DTC Testsby Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesAugust 10th, 2010The UK Human Genetics Commission's "A Common Framework of Principles for direct-to-consumer genetic testing services" rejects government regulation and relies entirely on voluntary guidelines. |
| Stem Cell Education and Hypeby Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesAugust 4th, 2010The embryonic stem cell lobby seems to be making a concerted effort to promote their technology. |
| A People's History of the Human Genomeby Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesJune 30th, 2010Genewatch UK marked the 10th anniversary of the Human Genome Project announcement by publishing an extraordinary History with important current policy implications. |
| A Curious Incidentby Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesJune 30th, 2010The 10th anniversary of the first Human Genome Project announcement passed with remarkably little hoopla. |
| A Singular Kind of Eugenicsby Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesJune 16th, 2010Modern techno-utopianism, discussed in a recent feature on Singularity University, has worryingly eugenic overtones. |
| "Splice" is an Infertile Hybridby Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesJune 8th, 2010The movie Splice is neither deep enough to be interesting nor shocking enough to succeed as horror. |
| Tragedy on the Pharmby Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesMay 24th, 2010Cows genetically modified to produce human follicle stimulating hormone died unexpectedly from vastly enlarged ovaries, unleashing a storm of controversy in New Zealand. |
| Reactions to Venter's Latest Synthetic Biology Announcement by Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesMay 22nd, 2010The announcement of the first self-replicating, synthetic bacterial cell provoked considerable comment, and led President Obama to make synthetic biology the first order of business for his Bioethics Commission. |
| IVF Doc Promotes IVF Shockby Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesMay 20th, 2010New reports that IVF will replace sex turn out to be based partly on a misunderstanding. |
| Every Dog in the Databaseby Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesMay 19th, 2010A ritzy condo in Baltimore is proposing to mandate DNA tests for every dog in the building. |
| Fiction in Scienceby Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesMay 7th, 2010The journal Science cheapens its coverage of an important paper by including speculation, which it refutes, about the cloning of Neanderthals. |
| When Cultures Collideby Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesApril 28th, 2010The lawsuit brought by 41 members of the Havasupai Indian tribe against Arizona State University has implications that go far beyond last week's settlement. |
| Pretending to be Toughby Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesApril 19th, 2010The English forensic DNA database has been dragged into the current UK election campaign with false accusations that supporting reform means being "soft" on crime. |
| Struggling to Control Fertility Tourismby Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesApril 17th, 2010Several countries are trying to figure out what to do about their citizens who go abroad for assisted reproduction procedures to evade local prohibitions (or just to save money). |
| President Obama's Bioethics Commission by Pete Shanks, Biopolitical TimesApril 13th, 2010The recently announced membership of the new Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues is, as expected, significantly different from that of its predecessor. |
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Pete Shanks, MA, attended Oxford University, where he
studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and moved to California in the
mid-1970s. He has been active in a range of local and international political
movements, while mostly making his living in the publishing industry, especially
on the production side; he enjoys the craft of bookmaking. Appalled by the
eugenic possibilities of biotechnology, he has worked with the Center for
Genetics and Society since its earliest days. He is the author of Human
Genetic Engineering: A Guide for Activists, Skeptics, and the Very Perplexed
(Nation Books) and a regular contributor to Biopolitical Times.
