Ethical Aspects of Brain Research

Abstract

AbstractTheme I: Health and Human Rights. Health and human rights in relation to children and other vulnerable groups - for example, ethnic minorities and migrants; the role of health professionals in promoting respect for human rights; discrimination on the basis of health status. Theme II: The Death Debates. Cross-cultural and comparative religion perspectives on dying; euthanasia; nurse-assisted and physician-assisted suicide; the futility debate; advance directives; transplantation ; procuring organs from heart-beating donors or anencephalic infants. Theme III: Genetics and Reproductive Technology. The nature of human identity; genome mapping; genetic manipulation and counselling ; embryo research; preimplantation and prenatal diagnosis; the legal status of embryos, fetuses, infants, and families created by assisted reproduction; fetal tissue transplants; eugenics; population ethics. Theme IV: Health, Ecology, Persons and Planet. The connections between human health and ecological health, including how concepts developed in medicine, ethics, and law might be applicable in the promotion of ecological health, and vice versa. These include resource allocation; justice (including intergenerational justice) in health care; open and closed legal systems; and concepts of trust, covenant, and quality of life.