CRISPR — Who’s in Charge? (Part II)

Blog, Emerging Technologies, Engineering Humans, Genomic & Genetics Issues, United States / /

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

This is part II of our report. View part I, part III, or part IV.

The ability to edit genes using CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) has been in the news for more than a year. A committee has been appointed to advise our government regarding the editing of genes, particularly editing the genes of the human embryo.

Who are the members of that committee? What are their views? The Tennessee Center for Bioethics & Culture has been working to gather information for you, our readers.

Here is a brief look at some of the writings and organizational ...read more

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Asking the Right Questions

Blog / /

Marilyn Chandler McEntyre has done us all a favor by writing her book, Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies (Grand Rapids, MI:  Eerdmans, 2009).  Early in her chapter, “Don’t Tolerate Lies,” the author references a quote of Blaise Pascal: We hate the truth, and people hide it from us; we want to be flattered, and people flatter us; we like being deceived, and we are deceived.* Given this situation, Professor McEntyre offers some help to us, that we might be better able to discern what is true when we read the news. How ...read more

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The Ovolution of the Three-Parent Embryo

Blog, Born Human, Resource Room / /
By D. Joy Riley, M.D., M.A. Executive Director The Tennessee Center for Bioethics & Culture The United Kingdom presented the rest of the world with Louise Joy Brown in July, 1978, the first test-tube baby.  They convened what became known as the Warnock Committee to advise Parliament regarding the new reproductive technologies:  “what policies and safeguards should be applied, including consideration of the social, ethical, and legal implications of these developments, and to make recommendations.” (Warnock, A Question of Life, 4.)  The Warnock Committee by a slim margin approved a variety of reproductive adventures, including ...read more

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Choosing Wisely — an initiative of the ABIM Foundation

Medicine & Health, Resource Room / /

Nine United States specialty societies representing 374,000 physicians developed lists of “Five Things Physicians and Patients Should Question” in recognition of the importance of physician and patient conversations to improve care and eliminate unnecessary tests and procedures.

http://choosingwisely.org/?page_id=13

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THE STATE of the Union — On Hormones

Blog / /

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

A few days ago, I received an unsolicited e-mail from “Stephanie Cutter, BarackObama.com” <[email protected]>.  It read in part,

Here’s some big news that’s going to affect millions of women.

On Friday, the Obama administration announced that soon women won’t have to pay out of pocket for birth control: Starting August 1st, many insurance plans nationwide will be required to fully cover contraception without co-pays or deductibles. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more women can make health care decisions based on what’s best for them — ...read more

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Doing the Right Thing — a six part exploration of ethics

Events / /

“A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon the world.”  Albert Camus

The class will consider the state of our world, ethically speaking . . .

How did we get into this mess? Is there truth, a moral law we can all know? If we know what is right, can we do it? What does it mean to be human? Ethics in the Market Place Ethics in Public Life

Monday Nights, 26 September – 31 October

7:00 – 8:30 P.M.

The Locker Room

7017 Concord Road

Brentwood, TN  37027

Cost:  $15

Register Here

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