In the next few days, we will launch this blog with live coverage of our Atlanta hearing on the implications and ethics of synthetic biology. Along with live video from the event, we hope that this coverage can provide a window on this week’s events even for those who can’t join us in Atlanta.
After this week’s meeting, it’s our hope that this blog will be a venue for education and discussion about important issues in bioethics. We hope you’ll come back for the live coverage on Tuesday and Wednesday, subscribe via RSS or sign up for email updates, and leave any feedback and ideas you have in the comments.
While we’re liveblogging, you may want to refer to one or more of the following:
Human Subjects Protections need urgent attention. The recommendations from the ACHR stating that Informed Consent should always be required, even when the research is “classified” have never been implemented, signed off on or adopted. This loophole is unacceptable. The protections therefore are not reliable, as national srecurity related science includes synthetic biology, cognitive neuroscience, brain-computer interface, and many other areas that are unprecedented in their power.
The commission has not addressed the loophole, the “waiver” of Informed Consent in Natioanl Security related research.
Without requiring Informed Consent, many of the other protections discussed, are not only meaningless, but misleading in that there is no mention of this hole in Human Protections regulations.