A Breath of (needed) Fresh Air
TIU » Bioethics
by D. Joy Riley
3y ago
After months of being wary of the air that I breathe, I inhaled a breath of fresh air yesterday.  The rejuvenating experience came in the form of Speaking Peace & Seeking Reconciliation in a Fractured Culture, an online conversation with David Bailey and Marilyn McEntyre, sponsored by The Trinity Forum and Coracle.  David Bailey (12:00 ff) quoted an African proverb that gives a needed perspective in these unsettled and unsettling times:  When I saw them far away, I thought they were demons When they got closer, I thought they were animals When they got close, I saw they we ..read more
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“Belly of the Beast”
TIU » Bioethics
by Neil Skjoldal
3y ago
For those who are aware of the dreadful 1927 Supreme Court decision Buck v Bell, the subject of the forced sterilizations of ‘undesirable’ people is not new. In a blog written over three years ago after the publication of Adam Cohen’s book Imbeciles, I stated, “If we devalue a person simply because they do not meet our standard of what a person should be, we are all devalued.   The story of Carrie Buck needs to be told and retold, and I am grateful to Cohen for retelling it.” But 1927 was a long time ago. Surely our society has moved past the awful eugenics program that devastat ..read more
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When the President has COVID-19
TIU » Bioethics
by Neil Skjoldal
3y ago
This fateful year took another sad and surprising turn last week with the announcement that both President Donald Trump and his wife Melania tested positive for COVID-19.   The story became even more serious as we saw him being flown to Walter Reed Medical Center for treatment.  We wish President Trump and the First Lady a speedy and full recovery. The media, of course, has raised important questions such as “When was he diagnosed?” and “Did he attend a political fundraiser while he was positive?”  Of more immediate interest at the moment is, “How is he doing ..read more
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International Commission on HHGE Channels Warnock Committee
TIU » Bioethics
by D. Joy Riley
3y ago
In various ways, the International Commission on Heritable Human Genome Editing (HHGE) is built on the same grounds as the former Committee of Inquiry into Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Great Britain).  That committee was charged to “consider recent and potential developments in medicine and science related to human fertilisation and embryology; to consider what policies and safeguards should be applied, including consideration of the social, ethical and legal implications of these developments; and to make recommendations.”[1]  The Committee of Inquiry into Human Fertilisation ..read more
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International commission: go slow with heritable human genome editing
TIU » Bioethics
by Jon Holmlund
3y ago
The international commission on heritable human genome editing (HHGE), formed by the US National Academies of Medicine and Science and the Royal Society of Great Britain, has issued it report.  The 224-page report is freely available for reading here, and a summary news report can be accessed here. The upshot:  not too fast.  The commission’s 11 major recommendations, briefly reworded and rearranged in order, are: Before attempting any pregnancy with a gene-edited human embryo, “a significant cohort” of edited human embryos should be studied in the laboratory to ensure that the ..read more
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The NFL is back!
TIU » Bioethics
by Neil Skjoldal
3y ago
As we observe another Labor Day, our annual transition from the heat of summer to the cool breezes of autumn, it is refreshing to know that the National Football League is planning to start its 2020 season in just a few days.  As you are probably aware, team officials throughout the league have factored COVID-19 into their planning this year and have made adjustments accordingly.  For example, my hometown team, the Miami Dolphins, will be limiting their home attendance to just 13,000 fans per game (which is 20% capacity of their home field, Hard Rock Stadium).   W ..read more
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A Tale of Two Elders
TIU » Bioethics
by D. Joy Riley
3y ago
Concern for elderly relatives and friends has been heightened during the coronavirus pandemic.   In the last month, I have visited two nonagenarians:  one was in the assisted living portion of a large multi-level care facility; the other, in her own home.  In both, frequent hand washing or sanitizing by visitors was done.  The assisted living facility visit required a mask and at least six feet of distance between us at all times.  The second nonagenarian refused to wear a mask, and we ate several meals together, maintaining some interpersonal distance.  Both ..read more
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Pediatric Fertility Preservation for Hormone Suppression in Transgender Youth
TIU » Bioethics
by Mark McQuain
3y ago
Last week, I received an e-mail update on current research and treatment being performed at the institution where I did my residency training. One of the interesting research areas was in the discipline of pediatric fertility preservation. Pediatric patients who undergo cancer treatments often take medications which cause destruction of their testicles or ovaries, not uncommonly resulting in infertility problems when the patient reaches adulthood. Advances in cryopreservation techniques of reproductive tissues are offered as a solution to preserving one’s fertility after pediatric cancer treat ..read more
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A contemporary reprise of theories of justice
TIU » Bioethics
by Jon Holmlund
3y ago
This blog’s being sponsored by an evangelical Christian university means, among other things, that at least some contributors, notably the current writer, tend to adopt a set of basic Christian assumptions (monotheism, tenets of historic Christianity, biblicism) in approaching matters of bioethics, including justice.  In that light, a recent summary of a Christian framework for justice, by the Presbyterian pastor Timothy Keller, is worth a careful read.  It is a concise and erudite summary of the different secular approaches to justice in pluralistic American society, contrasting the ..read more
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The Old Guard
TIU » Bioethics
by Neil Skjoldal
3y ago
In an effort to disconnect from the craziness of life, I recently watched “The Old Guard,” a popular 2020 Netflix movie.  [Note:  spoiler alerts ahead.]  It tells the story of four “immortals,” led by Andromache of Scythia (also known as “Andy,” portrayed by Charlize Theron), and the ups and downs of their existence.   As we are introduced to each of the immortals, we find that they were born in different centuries and have been alive for a very long time.  The bulk of their time seems to be participating in battles that have taken place throughout ..read more
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