Bioethics for Beginners

Do you think reproductive cloning is morally permissible? Do you check food labels to exclude any with GM ingredients? Would you worry if the government introduced compulsory depositing of DNA in the national DNA bank?


If so, you will be interested in this ten week online course for the thinking lay person. It will give you an introduction to the ethical and social implications of advances in medicine, biology, and technology - without assuming prior knowledge of the science. Among our topics will be cloning, GM (genetic modification), increases in life span, genetic differences in race and gender, genetics and human nature, clinical trials in the developing world, eugenics, private markets in organs for transplant and the ownership of human tissue.


The course will introduce you to these knotty problems through guided readings, online discussion, case studies and other activities as enjoyable as they are useful. We shall also consider the power of the media in opinion-forming, the realisation that equally rational people can form different opinions on the same issues, and how scientists can best deal with the social and ethical context in which they work.