Editing Our Future

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Joyce A. Shelton, Ph.D. Professor of Biology Emerita Trinity International University

The recent (March 6-8, 2023) meeting of the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing in London has brought ethical concerns about heritable human genome editing to the forefront once again. Recall that the previous meeting five years ago exploded into international furor over revelations from He Jiankui, the Chinese scientist who edited the genomes of three embryos and brought them to term. He was jailed for his actions in China and was only recently released. Apparently, he is unrepentant and still harboring visions of reactivating his genome editing pursuits. Not surprisingly, ...read more

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What Does It Take to Alter Our Next Generation?

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D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A. Executive Director

I have been thinking about how one generation proactively alters the succeeding one. As I contemplated this conundrum, I found myself writing a story instead of a list. That story was published as a SALVO blog piece, and the link is below. The \”angsty\” pirate lives in a dystopia created by childhood desire, indulgent parents, a cooperative, complicit medical-industrial complex, and a legal climate in which desire is codified into law. What could possibly go wrong with that?

Click here to read the story. Then, send any comments to us through the Contact Us feature here ...read more

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Bringing Medical Precision to the Trigger Law in Tennessee

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D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A. Executive Director

The abortion debate is heating up in Tennessee – again. Why? Abortion was legal in the state for many years until recently.  In 2019, Tennessee passed an abortion “trigger” law that would become effective 30 days following the overturning of Roe v. Wade – which happened in 2022. The Human Life Protection Act became the law of the State, and abortion is now illegal. Not everyone is pleased with this state of affairs, so amendments to the law are being considered this week.

Suddenly, it seems, health care professionals and others are interested in this law. Questions have ...read more

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EctoLife: A Cautionary Tale

Blog, Emerging Technologies, Engineering Humans, Other Voices / /

 

Joyce A. Shelton, Ph.D. Professor of Biology Emerita Trinity International University

In the December 2022 TN-CBC newsletter article entitled Déjà vu all over again, D. Joy Riley drew our attention to the parallels between the recently released YouTube video EctoLife: The world’s first artificial womb facility, and the fake publicity for the movie GATTACA 25 years ago. The new video, while actually conceptual, presents ectogenesis, the complete development of a baby in an artificial womb, as a current reality. Once again, a number of viewers were fooled. Unfortunately, it is perhaps more realistic than we dare to think. In a revealing interview by Beau Davidson with the Ectolife ...read more

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Déjà vu all over again

Blog, Emerging Technologies / /

By D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A. Executive Director

The past couple of weeks have reminded me of the quote attributed to Yogi Berra, “It\’s Deja Vu All Over Again.”

Twenty-five years ago, the film, Gattaca, was released. One of the fake ads for the movie is pictured here. Thousands of people responded to the advertisements for the film, thinking it was the real deal.

In the past two weeks, multiple people have sent me the link to a new video, EctoLife: Concept Unveiled for the World’s First Artificial Womb Facility. Some are concerned that this is happening now; comments found online show a significant ...read more

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A Day in the Life of a Patient

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D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A. Executive Director

30 November 2022

Her son asked if I could be there by 9:00 A.M., when the hospitalist would likely make rounds. I agreed, and made the three-hour journey on a Monday in November. My friend was the patient, and I, a visitor. What I saw in the ensuing hours made me beyond sad.

A nurse came in to “take her vitals.” That meant she wheeled in a cart with various measuring components: a wristband to measure blood pressure, a probe to take the patient’s temperature, and a pulse oximeter to measure blood oxygen content. The patient was ...read more

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More Transitions

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Our Sad Loss

It is with much sadness that the Board and Executive Director of The Tennessee Center for Bioethics & Culture announce the death of Board Member William “Bill” Peter, of Hendersonville, TN. Bill has served humbly but with distinction as a Board Member since the inception of this organization. He will be sorely missed. We extend our condolences to his family.

Resquiescat in pace, our brother and friend

 

 

D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A. Executive Director

Our September e-newsletter contained an article by Joyce Shelton, Ph.D., “For the Safety of Our Children.” It was about the medical transitioning of gender-dysphoric children. ...read more

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Transitions – Paying Attention to Other Voices

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D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A. Executive Director

Recently, I traveled north to enjoy some recreation and relaxation in cooler weather. Here, fall is in the air, and some trees are manifesting beautiful foliage ahead of the rest. The tree pictured above caught my eye, with its red leaved branches standing out from the rest of the still-green tree. It is a remarkable and lovely natural autumnal transition.

Alas, other “transitions” in our midst are neither lovely or natural. I am alluding to the “medical transitioning” of our young people, who are often told that multiple surgeries and life-long (cross-sex) hormonal treatments will transition ...read more

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What We’re Reading

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D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A. Executive Director

Summer often presents us with some time to relax, rejuvenate, and read. We thought you may wish to know what we’re reading. We’d enjoy receiving your comments about any of these after you’ve read them. You can contact us here. You are welcome to share with us what you’re reading as well!

C. Ben Mitchell, Ph.D.:

All That Moves Us by Jay Wellons: 9780593243367 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

Irreversible Damage – The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters | Regnery Publishing

You’re Only Human | Baker Publishing Group

Joyce A. Shelton, Ph.D.:

Synthetic mouse embryos created from stem cells — without sperm, eggs, ...read more

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Podcast Interview: Transhumanism and the Quest for Technological Immortality

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In this episode of The Political Animals, our Distinguished Fellow C. Ben Mitchell, Ph.D., discusses transhumanism. Listen below!

The Political Animals

In this episode, Jonathan talks to bioethicist Ben Mitchell about transhumanism. They discuss the origins, philosophy and goals of the transhumanist movement, the movement’s desire for a post human future, the impact of technology on the human being, including the possibility of uploading consciousness to a computer, or merging the human brain with technology, and finally what it actually means to be human. Listen now.

 

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