Sallyport - The Magazine of Rice University - Winter 2002

The Ethics of Biotechnology - Through the Sallyport
contemporary significance of religious and ethical thought for emerging
issues in biotechnology. One strong current of research in the program
focuses on religious and ethical appeals to nature or the natural as a norm in
public debates over biotechnology. “People often describe biotechnological
advances as natural or unnatural interventions,” Lustig says. “Nevertheless,
it is unclear how those labels in and of themselves influence moral
judgment about particular issues.”
The researchers are interested in ethical concerns involved in five areas of
biotechnology: assisted reproduction, human enhancement, hybridization,
biodiversity, and agricultural/human husbandry. To address these issues,
the Program on Biotechnology, Religion, and Ethics has teamed with the
Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine
to produce a study titled “Altering Nature: How Religious Traditions
Assess the New Biotechnologies.”
The new study recently received its first funding award—a $1 million grant
from the Ford Foundation. “The national debate about biotechnology
research and policy is profoundly influenced by Western religious and
cultural understandings of nature,” says Constance H. Buchanan, senior
program officer for religion, society, and culture at the Ford Foundation.
“Until now, these have not been the subject of rigorous, comparative study.
This undertaking promises to produce important new insights into the moral
implications of biotechnology.”
The grant will be used to convene groups of scholars at annual conferences,
publish three books summarizing the research, provide briefing documents
for the media, and develop a website.
—Christopher Dow
[ back to top ]
Featured Stories | Through the Sallyport | On the Bookshelf | Who's Who
Students | Arts | Scoreboard | Yesteryear | Previous Issues
Copyright ©2002 Rice University
http://www.rice.edu/sallyport/2002/winter/sallyport/ethicsofbiotechnology.html (2 of 2) [10/30/2009 11:00:28 AM]