Biopolitics

The Center for Genetics and Society uses the term “biopolitics” to refer to public understanding, public policies, and public-interest advocacy about the social meanings and consequences of human biotechnologies. Biopolitics recognizes the need for public and political engagement on consequential applications of biotechnologies, such as heritable genome editing. Biopolitical views are not always aligned with political positioning on other issues, especially in the U.S. Public interest advocates working in a biopolitical framework emphasize the importance of prioritizing social justice when evaluating technological innovations.


Biopolitical Times

Public and policy conversations about heritable human genome editing often leave the impression that rules governing it are few and far between. Many news reports and scholarly articles present global governance as starting from a more or less blank slate; some also suggest that global agreement on this controversial issue would be unlikely. This view skims over some inconvenient facts, like the existence of the Oviedo Convention, a binding international treaty signed by 29 European countries, which prohibits heritable...

Biopolitical Times

On September 3rd, Heritable Human Genome Editing was published. This Report was the work of a multinational Commission organized by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences and Medicine and the U.K. Royal Society. Its explicit conclusion, as described in the press release, is two-fold: first, that heritable genome editing is not yet safe or effective enough for human application; second, that the first clinical uses of it should be restricted to serious diseases caused by a single aberrant...

Aggregated News

In August 2017, scientists reported that they had used the gene-editing tool CRISPR–Cas9 to correct a mutation in viable human...

Aggregated News

To converse with Shobita Parthasarathy is to be enveloped in two kinds of warmth: that of a generous-spirited, energetic, and...

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Biopolitical Times

Aggregated News

Biopolitical Times

CGS-authored

Progress in Bioethics: Science, Policy, and Politics

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A special presentation sponsored by the Center for American Progress

Progress in Bioethics: Science, Policy, and Politics

January 7, 2010, 12:00pm - 1:30pm

President Obama pledged in his inaugural address to "restore science to its rightful place." He followed this up with a presidential memorandum of scientific integrity to accompany his executive order restoring funding for embryonic stem cell research. On November 24, another executive order established the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, and just days ago, the NIH announced the approval of 13 new human embryonic stem cell lines for federally funded research.

After more than a decade of conservatives' dominance of public bioethical debate, progressive bioethics is finally in ascendance. Editors Jonathan Moreno and Sam Berger map this new landscape with Progress in Bioethics, an anthology featuring contributions from progressive and nonprogressive bioethicists alike. They tackle substantive policy issues such as stem cell research, conscience clauses, and health care reform. More generally, they discuss the meaning of progressive bioethics, its place in the political arena, its stance toward biotechnology, and its interplay with religion. And most importantly, they seek to apply the fundamental progressive values of social justice, critical optimism, and practical problem solving-values that are needed now more than ever to restore ideological balance to the politics and policy of the life sciences.

Please join CAP and Democracy: a Journal of Ideas for a lively panel discussion led by Jonathan Moreno, Senior Fellow at CAP, Editor-In-Chief of Science Progress, and co-editor of Progress in Bioethics.

Featured panelists:

  • Sam Berger, JD Candidate, Yale Law School; Co-Editor, Progress in Bioethics
  • Michael Tomasky, Editor, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas
  • Clay Risen, Managing Editor, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas
  • Kathryn Hinsch, Founder and Board President, Women's Bioethics Project; Contributor Progress in Bioethics
  • Marcy Darnovsky, Associate Executive Director, Center for Genetics and Society; Contributor Progress in Bioethics

Moderated by:

  • Jonathan Moreno, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress; Editor-In-Chief, Science Progress, Co-Editor, Progress in Bioethics

 

Admission is free.

RSVP to attend this event

January 7, 2010, 12:00pm - 1:30pm

Space is extremely limited. RSVP required.
Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis and not guaranteed.

Lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m.

Center for American Progress
1333 H St. NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Map & Directions

Nearest Metro: Blue/Orange Line to McPherson Square or Red Line to Metro Center

For more information, call 202-682-1611.

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Date
2010-01-07T12:00:00
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[Video featuring CGS's Marcy Darnovsky]
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Center for American Progress

CGS-authored

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