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Photos by Ben Harmon Stem cell research—developing specialized cells from embryonic tissue—may hold the key to curing the incurable. But the morality of obtaining stem cells, whether from aborted embryos or from eggs fertilized in a petrie dish, is a matter of intense public debate.
Among the issues examined in the two-day conference were how to guarantee equal access to the benefits of biotech discoveries and who owns research results. Underlying much of the discussion was a search for how to integrate diverse religious views into public discourse. Conference presenters included Elliot Dorff, Rector and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of Judaism; Khaleel Mohammed, Postdoctoral Fellow in Islamic Studies at Brandeis University; Lisa Sowle Cahill, Monan Professor of Theology, Boston College; George Annas, Professor of Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights at Boston University; and Rahul K. Danda, Director of the Bioethics Program at Interleukin Genetics, Waltham, Mass., and author of Guiding Icarus: Merging Bioethics with Corporate Interest. |
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How to unravel this ethical Gordian knot—part of a broader discourse about the unknown risks of lifesaving biotechnology breakthroughs—was one of many challenging moral dilemmas discussed by scientists and scholars of Judaism, Islam and Christianity at The Outer Limits: Defining Ethical Boundaries of Biotechnology Research, an interdisciplinary conference presented by the Wilstein Institute of Jewish Policy Studies and the Interreligious Center on Public Life. Over 100 participants representing the fields of biotechnology, medicine, law, the social sciences, ethics and major religious traditions gathered at Hebrew College and Andover Newton Theological School on March 9–10, to explore issues such as the ethical, social and legal dimensions of biotechnology products and fundamental questions about whether a reverence for life should preclude or limit research.
In his keynote address, Dr. David Nathan, President Emeritus of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and a leading medical researcher, explored the dynamics of change within the field of biotechnology research and ethical boundaries. "We now have the technology that allows us to determine various individual human traits and conditions," said Nathan, speaking of advances in prenatal diagnosis. "But its unlimited use may be technology gone mad."