The latest declaration on animal consciousness: friend or foe?
Amy Searle reports on recent updates in our understanding of animal consciousness and reflects on the ethical use of animals in research.
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BioArt: Producing art through biochemistry
Edie Allden explores the artistic side of biochemistry and how ethics and access challenge the universality of BioArt.
World’s first CRISPR therapy greenlit
Jen Jiang reports on a revolutionary gene editing therapy to treat beta-thalassaemia and sickle cell disease.
Academic boycotts: What makes science fair?
Yaroslava Bukhta examines ethical implications of academic boycotts, discussing the Russia-Ukraine war and giving a personal perspective.
Science and conscience: Early 20th century physics which led to the ‘destroying of worlds’
Shivi Gupta explores the ethical dilemmas and scientific advancements associated with the Manhattan Project in nuclear physics.
Poetic justice: The Henrietta Lacks story
Ashley Jackson examines the ethical and scientific implications of the HeLa cells sourced from Henrietta Lacks.
Are animal models still relevant to drug development?
Adèle Bouyer reviews how a recent change in FDA regulation may herald a decline in animal testing, in the face of new alternative models.
The Regulation of Neuro-Hacking: Why self-experimentation needs the support and recognition of institutions
Authored by Matthew J Lennon MD, Grant Rigney MSc, Zoltán Molnár MD, DPhil Self-experimentation has shaped the history of neurological research1, from Isaac Newton mapping out the visual distribution of the retina by inserting a needle into his eye socket, to Henry Head distinguishing between types of somatic sensation by transecting branches of his own…
Wild Things – a review
‘Wild Things’ is the latest venture from The House of Improv. In this improvised comedy, the team address human interactions with an endangered animal which is conjured out of thin air by the audience. In the Tuesday performance, this animal was the creaky-tailed hippopotamus. Set in Creaky-Tailed Hippopotamus Town, the play followed the stories of…
CRISPR’s Consequences: An Ethical Tongue Twister
By Abigail Pavey The power to create, destroy or modify life has always been a source of great debate between scientists and among society as a whole. But what happens when scientists decide to go undercover and do what they please? In November 2018, Chinese researcher He Jiankui announced to the world that he had…