Today, the media has reported that gene-edited babies have been born in China. If these reports are true, this is deeply concerning. The possibilities raised by heritable genome editing could have significant implications for individuals and for all of society. We do not know enough about the safety of these procedures or welfare implications. It’s […]

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has today published a new briefing note highlighting the ethical issues that can arise when patients and doctors wish to use experimental treatments. Several controversies over the use of experimental treatments have been reported in the media recently, including couples feeling duped over expensive fertility treatment ‘add-ons’1, deaths following stem […]

The Government has announced plans to move to an ‘opt-out’ system of consent for organ and tissue donation in England. This will mean that most adults are considered willing to donate their organs unless they explicitly record their wish not to. Wales introduced an opt-out system in 2011, and Scotland also looks likely to do so. […]