Hastings Conversations

We have the ability to sequence the DNA of every newborn, generating information that could help diagnose diseases and predict conditions that might have a later onset. But should we? In what contexts is sequencing helpful or harmful? On the latest Hastings Conversations podcast, Hastings Center President Mildred Solomon talks with Barbara Koenig, a Hastings Center fellow and director of bioethics at the University of California, San Francisco, about the findings of a major federally-funded research project convened by UCSF in collaboration with The Hastings Center. Koenig delves into the rationale behind the project’s recommendations that all newborns not be sequenced at this time. The findings appear in a recent special report on the ethics of sequencing newborns, published by The Hastings Center, available for free: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/1552146x/2018/48/S2 Hastings podcasts like this one are supported by listeners like you. In fact, 45% of the work that we do is funded by individual donors.

Does a new medicine or diagnostic test work? Is it safe? Should the government approve it and insurers pay for it? In this episode of Hastings Conversations, Hastings Center president Mildred Z. Solomon sat down with research scholars Karen J. Maschke and Michael K. Gusmano to understand policy disputes about what counts as evidence that medical technologies are safe and effective. Their book, Debating Modern Medical Technologies: The Politics of Safety, Effectiveness, and Patient Access, is available here: https://bit.ly/2C31X9H. Hastings podcasts like this one are supported by listeners like you. In fact, 45% of the work that we do is funded by individual donors. Visit us at thehastingscenter.org to contribute and learn more. Hastings Conversations explores critical questions in bioethics and cutting-edge research at The Hastings Center. Hosted by Hastings Center president Mildred Solomon.

It has long been an ethical line not to be crossed: genetically enhancing humans – making us faster, smarter, or even kinder – in a way that is passed down to future generations. But that line maybe fading. Today, there is active discussion around the world about whether we should make heritable “improvements” to the human genome. In the latest Hastings Conversations podcast, Hastings Center president Mildred Solomon spoke with director of research Josephine Johnston about the ethical challenges of using genetic editing techniques to attempt human enhancement. Hastings Conversations explores critical questions in bioethics and cutting-edge research at The Hastings Center. Hosted by Hastings Center president Mildred Solomon.

If all athletes had access to the same performance-enhancing drugs, wouldn't that make competitions more fair? And why are some performance enhancing technologies, like hyperbaric chambers, acceptable, but some, like impermeable swimsuits, are not? Mildred Z. Solomon, President of The Hastings Center, spoke with President Emeritus Thomas H. Murray, author of "Good Sport: Why Our Games Matter -- And How Doping Undermines Them" in Hastings Conversations, right after the 2018 Winter Games. Hastings Conversations explores critical questions in bioethics and cutting-edge research at The Hastings Center. Hosted by Hastings Center president Mildred Solomon.