EDST 391 Ethics & the Human Genome

Name:
Date:
"Calendar"

Assignment for Day 18

Cloning

Megan & Sam’s Day!

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Readings:

• "Transplant first a giant leap for surgery," The Guardian, 11/19/08.
• "Cellular Division," a set of short commentaries on cloning and its ethics, www.nas.org, March, 2009.
• "A cluster of ethical questions, a sidebar to the following article, p. 34.
• FYI only. "Tiny cells, huge possibilities," Johns Hopkins Magazine, 61 (2), 28-35, April, 2009.
• FYI only. "Monster tumor and a little (cloned) lamb" A brief history of cell engineering," a sidebar to the foregoing article, pp. 30-31.
• Cloning (Human Genome Project website)

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Thinking assignment for the presentation:

· Please be prepared to describe how (a) each of the commentators in “Cellular Division” would react to (b) “A Cluster of Ethical Questions.” The former consists of 7 short opinions reacting to Obama’s announcement that he will allow government funding of embryonic stem cell research. These 7 commentators were chosen because they have different views about the matter. The latter reading is a sidebar to a longer article in the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) alumni magazine. Johns Hopkins Hospital is one of the premier hospitals in the world, and it does a lot of stem cell research. The article is naturally very happy about Obama’s policy, as well as proud of Johns Hopkins’ leading role in stem cell research. (What are alumni magazines for?!) What I want you to look for is how the JHU Alumni Magazine’s “ethical questions” sidebar portrays the concerns that different sides have in the ethical debate over using stem cells. For instance, does it present all sides illustrated in the 7 commentaries? Or, does it seem to side with some against others?

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