Professor John Harris wonders Who’s afraid of a synthetic human? in the Times. He argues we should support the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill because it will help us develop effective therapies and enhance ourselves. Science is abo…

By Loane Skene, Professor of Law, University of Melbourne and Julian Savulescu,  Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics and Director Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (H…

If the view of the human mind held by some researchers is correct, we might see human development as having had its own singularity.

The Daily Mail warns that bosses want to use over-the-phone lie detectors to catch out workers pulling a sickie. The issue is the new generation of voice analysis software that listens in when someone calls in sick, and prompts the person t…

Researchers at Cornell university have developed a genetically modified human embryo expressing a green fluorescent protein. This is a technology already demonstrated in animals (and plants), including monkeys. But the news that it had been…

In Britain, the Conservative Party has challenged the government to block lesbian couples from receiving IVF treatment unless they can provide a ‘male role model’ for their child. This is part of a proposed amendment to the huma…

Robin McKie, the science editor for The Observer on Sunday is predicting a major row later this month when scientists and health experts in the United Kingdom hold two key meetings to debate the issue of cousin marriage and its impact on he…

Ghrelin is a hormone produced in the stomach that appears to stimulate appetite. A recent paper in Cell Metabolism shows that giving ghrelin to volunteers made their brains respond more strongly to food images, reward systems in the brain b…

The claim about viability is not about whether or not premature infants at 21 or 22 or 23 weeks do survive, it is about whether they can survive, (if all medical care were available, and the doctors tried hard to keep them alive). The Londo…

A recent study reveals that aviation might pump 20% more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by 2025 as previously estimated. Vexing is not the possibly underestimated figure; but the fact that this study was only recently uncovered: As cove…