Thursday, May 05, 2005

The International Congress of Bioethics 2005

Islam Online article:

"The congress, held from March 26 to March 28, came as a suitable follow-up to the 'Extraordinary Session of the International Bioethics Committee' held in Paris, France on January 28, 2005. The goal of the committee was to finalize the Preliminary Draft Declaration on Universal Norms on Bioethics. Discussing the Universal Declaration of Bioethics was one of the main topics covered in the congress including ethics and its relation to molecular biology, intellectual property rights, stem cell research, tissue transplantation, and modern gene technology, as well as ethics education.........

"As Dr. Koichiro Matsuura, Director General of UNESCO mentioned in his opening address, “Scientists, philosophers, policy-makers, the media and the general public should be involved in assessing the social and ethical implications of these remarkable developments. On the one hand, the media bring us daily reports of findings in science that have the potential to be used in medical treatments and applied towards prevention of diseases. On the other hand, certain applications of biotechnology and genetics arouse a profound fear and anxiety that the sanctity of human life might be compromised and human dignity violated if careful ethical consideration is not given to these applications.” The applications Matsuura referred to include sensitive topics such as stem cell research, cloning, and the patenting of genes."

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