Winter 2010
Consultation on biofuels  The Council is asking for people’s views on the ethical issues that arise in the drive to find new types of biofuels, such as fuel produced by algae, to provide us with a greener source of renewable energy.
First generation biofuels are produced mainly from food crops such as sugar cane, soy bean and wheat. But in some cases their net greenhouse gas emissions are not much better than those of fossil fuels and there have been concerns about their impact on the environment, food availability, land use, and the rights of farmers and communities in developing countries.
Research into new types of biofuels is looking more promising, but before they are brought into wider use, the Council is considering the ethical and social issues raised by new approaches to biofuels whilst taking into account climate change and the need for energy security and economic development.
New Working Party on human bodies in medicine and research  The Council has set up a Working Party, chaired by Professor Dame Marilyn Strathern, to explore the ethical issues raised by the provision of bodily material for medical treatment and research. We provide our bodies or parts of our bodies for medical research or for the treatment of others in a number of ways and for a variety of reasons. While we are alive, we can give blood for nothing, donate eggs in return for fertility treatment, or volunteer for clinical trials for money. After we have died, we might want to donate our organs, skin, bone and other tissue to help others. However, there is a shortage of bodily material for many of these purposes in the UK. What should be done about it? The Working Party will hold a public consultation in the spring, and a report setting out the group’s findings, including recommendations for policy, will be published in autumn 2011. Resource for teachers on the forensic use of bioinformation  The Council has created a free resource for teachers based on its report on the forensic use of bioinformation.
The activities aim to teach students to think about how bioinformation - fingerprints and DNA profiles - are used to investigate crime and the ethical issues that arise from the storage of bioinformation on national databases. Lesson plans, teaching notes, activity sheets, curriculum links and background information are provided.
Report on assessing ethics in secondary science A report, authored by Professor Michael Reiss, on the assessment of ethics in the secondary science curriculum has been published by the Nuffield Foundation. The report follows a seminar convened by the Council in 2008. The aim of the seminar was to examine the challenges currently facing curriculum providers, examiners and science teachers in teaching and assessing ethics in the How Science Works area of modern science curricula. |
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