Partial ectogenesis (PE) would involve the use of an artificial womb (or aspects of a womb, such as an artificial endometrium and placenta) for part of the reproductive process, and could also be used to further human embryo research.

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Recent research into the genetics of autism has raised speculative questions about the prospect of prenatal testing for the condition and the development of preventative interventions and treatments in the future.

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Biotechnology refers to any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products and processes for specific uses. The interplay between the phenomenon of globalisation and the biotechnology industry raises significant ethical issues.

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Small viral and bacterial genomes synthesised from scratch have demonstrated the feasibility of creating synthetic genomes and it may soon be possible to synthesise an entire human genome de novo.

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A chimera is a single organism with a genetic composition from genetically different zygotes but in which the DNA is never mixed on a chromosomal or intracellular level.

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Citizen science is the term given to research that involves amateurs or non-professionals. These projects vary from contributory and collaborative ventures that typically involve the public collecting and processing data for researchers, to projects entirely devised by individuals or communities.

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New reproductive technologies allowing the creation of rudimentary embryos and the possibility of generating gametes in-vitro have the potential to overhaul how we conceptualise reproduction and parenthood.

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An innovative therapy is a newly introduced or modified therapy with unproven effects. Unlike research, which follows a predetermined course of action set out in a protocol, innovative therapies involve a more speculative approach to patient care and may be adapted to the individual’s response.

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The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity (Nagoya Protocol) provides a legal framework that governs access to non-human genetic resources and traditional knowledge.

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It is increasingly possible to predict an organism’s phenotype (observable physical properties including behaviour), or aspects of an organism’s phenotype, by studying their genotype (complete set of genes). The focus in this briefing is on using this technique in humans.

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Egg freezing is a relatively new medical procedure that involves extracting and subsequently freezing and storing eggs for (potential) later use in assisted reproduction. It is becoming increasingly available to healthy women who wish to bear children later in life – dubbed ‘social egg freezing’.

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Whilst sports science is a broad discipline, the central issue identified here concerns the use of performance enhancing techniques (PETs) in sport. It can also involve the study of the impact of sport on health.

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Research on the silencing of the extra copy of chromosome 21 has led to speculations that a chromosomal therapy for Down’s syndrome could be developed in the future.

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The frontier between humans and technology has become increasingly blurred; in some instances, we are seeing a merger of human biology and technology into one, in others technology has come to replace traditionally human roles.

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The blurring of the boundary between humans and technology has far reaching consequences throughout different areas of society.

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Advances in genome sequencing technologies have made it increasingly quick and cheap to generate data on the entire sequence of the human genome. This has led to the prediction that sequencing will become available as a ‘once-only’ test at the start of life.

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