ethical

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Is It Ethical To Farm Insects For Food Now That More People Are Eating Bugs

Matan Shelomi, National Taiwan University What is the life of a cricket worth? Insect farming is a rapidly growing industry, with hundreds of companies worldwide rearing insects at industrial scales. The global value of insect farming is expected to surpass US$1.18 billion by 2023. Farmed insects, or “mini-livestock,” refers to insects such as crickets and mealworms raised for the sole purpose of being sold as food or animal feed. These are not the fried tarantulas on a stick hawked to tourists or scorpion lollipops sold as novelties. High-protein insect powder can be used in foods from breads to buns, pasta and protein bars. Such products are already available in countries including the U.S., Switzerland and Finland. As an entomologist who has studied the potential and promotion of e...

Medical Marvels Or Ethical Missteps? – Lab–Grown Embryos And Human–Monkey Hybrids

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SCIENCE, VIDEO REELS

Medical Marvels Or Ethical Missteps? – Lab–Grown Embryos And Human–Monkey Hybrids

In Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel “Brave New World,” people aren’t born from a mother’s womb. Instead, embryos are grown in artificial wombs until they are brought into the world, a process called ectogenesis. In the novel, technicians in charge of the hatcheries manipulate the nutrients they give the fetuses to make the newborns fit the desires of society. Two recent scientific developments suggest that Huxley’s imagined world of functionally manufactured people is no longer far-fetched. Researchers have grown mammal embryos later into development than ever before in an artificial womb. Vitalii Kyryk/WikimediaCommons, CC BY-SA On March 17, 2021, an Israeli team announced that it had grown mouse embryos for 11 days – about half of the gestation period – in artificial wombs that were essential...

On Very Shaky Ethical Ground – In Texas, Price Gouging During Disasters Is Illegal

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

BUSINESS

On Very Shaky Ethical Ground – In Texas, Price Gouging During Disasters Is Illegal

In Houston, as millions suffered power and water outages, food shortages and subfreezing temperatures, another problem confronted families: price hikes. Steep increases in the price of food, gas and fuel have been reported across Texas. And as millions of Texans lost power, exorbitant prices were being asked for hotel rooms with power, with some climbing to US$1,000 a night. As a scholar who has researched disaster ethics, I know this is not uncommon in such circumstances. It follows a pattern: Disaster creates a scarcity of basic necessities; retailers and providers respond by sharply raising the price tags on sought-after commodities. Then comes public outrage and claims of price gouging – a practice deemed illegal in 36 U.S. states, including Texas, in times of disaster. Contrarian ...

The ethical case for allowing medical trials that deliberately infect humans with COVID-19

17Aug

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19

The ethical case for allowing medical trials that deliberately infect humans with COVID-19

Despite the urgent need to beat COVID-19, health officials may be delaying the development of an effective vaccine. Authorities in the U.S. and elsewhere are yet to authorize an ethically charged research procedure called “human challenge trials.” Challenge trials entail deliberately infecting volunteers with the disease – which explains the official reticence – but they could substantially expedite the development of a vaccine. The debate over human challenge trials has been raging for months among health professionals and academics. But only now – some eight months into the pandemic – are authorities in the U.S. beginning to consider them in a bid to speed up the vaccine-development process. Sitting and waiting A vaccine has to go through multiple stages before it can be rolled out. Af...

As the coronavirus rages in prisons, ethical issues of crime and punishment become more compelling

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIETY

As the coronavirus rages in prisons, ethical issues of crime and punishment become more compelling

Across the United States, prisons and jails have become hot spots for COVID-19. Governments at the state and federal level are being pressed to release inmates before the end of their sentence in order to minimize the spread of the disease. So far more than 100,000 of them have been infected with the coronavirus, and at least 802 inmates and several correctional officers have died. New Jersey’s correctional facilities have been hit particularly hard. With 29 deaths for every 100,000 inmates, they have the highest COVID-19-related death rate in the nation. In response, New Jersey has already released more than 1,000 inmates, and Gov. Phil Murphy on April 10, 2020 authorized a case-by-case review of prisoners who are at greater risk. Additionally, the state legislature is considering a bi...

Ethical challenges loom over decisions to resume in-person college classes

2Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

COVID-19, EDUCATION, VIDEO REELS

Ethical challenges loom over decisions to resume in-person college classes

By early July, about 80% of U.S. campuses were planning to resume at least some in-person instruction, even as a growing numbers of faculty are voicing concerns about safety. As Michael Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn College, argues, “Because we do not yet have the ability to bring students and staff back to campus while keeping them safe and healthy, we simply cannot return to business as usual.” Sorrell says that bringing students back in this context “constitutes an abdication of our moral responsibility as leaders.” But this isn’t just about the responsibilities of individual campuses and university leaders to do what’s right. As a scholar of ethics, I believe it is unwise and unethical for government to leave schools largely on their own to navigate in deciding whether and how to ...