Articles by Arthur Caplan

Image: Anthony Canamucio No area of science is command-ing more ethical attention these days than genetics. No other area of science with potential application to plants, animals, and people can match the speed with which new knowledge is being created in genetics. But lurking over in the disciplinary corner--somewhat out of sight of the ethicists' gaze--are the neurosciences. Advances in radiology, psychiatry, neurology, neurosurgery, bioengineering, and psychology are furthering our understa

President George W. Bush announced on Aug. 9 in a nationally televised address to the nation that he had decided to restrict public funding for embryonic stem cell research to only those cell lines already in existence as of that day. He said at the time that there were 60 cell lines in existence around the world and that these should prove adequate to allow embryonic stem cell research to proceed (See also, "Stem Cells: Steady Momentum for Funding"). He also made it very clear that he would opp

Interview By:, Franklin Hoke and Karen Young Kreeger, pp.12 Date: October 17, 1994 In May 1994, preeminent bioethicist Arthur Caplan moved his base of operations from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, where he had established the Center for Biomedical Ethics, to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. There, he launched the Center for Bioethics, hoping to expand the purview of his activities through association with

Interview By:, Franklin Hoke and Karen Young Kreeger, pp.12 Date: October 17, 1994 In May 1994, preeminent bioethicist Arthur Caplan moved his base of operations from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, where he had established the Center for Biomedical Ethics, to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. There, he launched the Center for Bioethics, hoping to expand the purview of his activities through association with

Editor's Note: In the past few months, the case of Forrest M. Mims III has received considerable publicity. Mims, a veteran science writer from Seguin, Texas, was commissioned by Scientific American to write a column called "The Amateur Scientist," but the magazine revoked his assignment when the editors learned that Mims is an evangelical Christian who does not believe in evolution. Mims has accused Scientific American of religious discrimination; the magazine denies the charge. The Opinion

It is tough defending the position that Scientific American was right to fire Forrest Mims as the author of "The Amateur Scientist" column. Mims meets one of the central requirements of the job--he is a competent amateur scientist. He is also an excellent writer, as anyone who has had the pleasure of reading any of his numerous popular science writings can attest. Not only does Mims have many of the requisite credentials for the job, it is no fun defending the conduct of those at Scientific Am