Category: Bioethics

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith

Date
August 10, 2026

Categories
Bioethics
Computational Sciences
Medicine
Tagged
, artificial intelligence, bacteria, biotech, chatbots, ChatGPT, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, complacency, drug-resistant bacteria, human viruses, Peter Koo, poisons, Science (journal), Stanford University, technology, virus, Wall Street Journal, World Health Organization}

Hey, Great News! Scientists Used AI to Create Viruses

_{Wesley J. Smith
August 10, 2026

Bioethics, Computational Sciences, Medicine

3}

What about attempts to test their virulence in humans? The approach in the Stanford lab sure sounds like a new form of gain-of-function research to me. Read More ›

Close-up shot of microscope with metal lens.

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O’Leary

Date
August 6, 2026

Categories
Bioethics
Medicine
Tagged
, Anthony Fauci, astrophysicists, Big Think, challenges, commoners, coronavirus, COVID-19, diary, Ethan Siegel, Great Barrington Declaration, lab origin, mRNA shots, myths, pandemic, public opinion, Scott Gottlieb, trust, Twitter, Wall Street Journal, White House, Wuhan}

Want the Public to Trust Science Again? In Four Lessons, Here’s How NOT to Do It

_{Denyse O’Leary
August 6, 2026

Bioethics, Medicine

5}

Ethan Siegel’s approach to public discussion of science is common enough: the exalted scientist reaches down to the ignorant masses. Read More ›

Doctor carrying a cooler box for organ transport doctor ensures swift and safe organ transport using specialized cooler box, optimizing life-saving medical procedures

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith

Date
July 17, 2026

Categories
Bioethics
Medicine
Tagged
, __trending, assisted suicide, Australia, Belgium, bioethics, brain cancer, Canada, cause of death, coma, dead donor rule, euthanasia, Hippocratic Oath, homicide, medical ethics, mentally ill, natural resources, Netherlands, New Zealand, npr, organ donation, organ-harvesting, patients, recontextualization, Robert D. Truog, Spain, suffering, The New England Journal of Medicine}

Ghoulish Proposal: Killing for Organs Gets a Prestige Endorsement

_{Wesley J. Smith
July 17, 2026

Bioethics, Medicine

5}

Transforming sick and disabled people into a killable caste objectifies them as potential natural resources to be mined or harvested. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Michael Egnor

Date
June 24, 2026

Categories
Bioethics
Ethics
Neuroscience & Mind
Tagged
, argumentum ad omnes, argumentum ad populum, B. F. Skinner, brain reflexes, Censor of the Year, Censor of the Year Award, Dallas Conference on Science and Faith, Discovery Institute, Drosophila, free will, fruit flies, Jerry Coyne, libertarian free will, meat machines, morality, operant conditioning, parking lot, Robert Sapolsky, Sam Harris, self-contradiction, social compliance, sophistry, Why Evolution Is True}

Morality Is Unintelligible Without Free Will: A Reply to Jerry Coyne

_{Michael Egnor
June 24, 2026

Bioethics, Ethics, Neuroscience & Mind

8}

A moral society is something entirely different from a well-run pigeon farm or a flourishing bottle of fruit flies. Read More ›

young man lies in a coma in a hospital ward, connected to life support equipment, monitors

^{Type
post

Date
June 21, 2026

Categories
Bioethics
Medicine
Tagged
, Adrian Owen, bioethics, brain damage, brain injury, Brian Edlow, car accident, Columbia University, covert consciousness, doctors, fMRI machine, Harvard Medicine, hidden awareness, ICU, Michael Egnor, Michael Young, Molly McDonough, Neuralink, patients, Science (journal), treatment, vegetative state}

Covert Consciousness Poses Bioethical Dilemmas

_{Science & Culture
June 21, 2026

Bioethics, Medicine

5}

A great deal of work is needed in clinical studies to provide a large enough database to help guide treatment decisions. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Denyse O’Leary

Date
June 16, 2026

Categories
Bioethics
Computational Sciences
Tagged
, accelerationism, Alex Williams, artificial intelligence, death, Elon Musk, Grokipedia, human beings, human exceptionalism, human life, machines, Monash University, Netscape, Nick Land, Nick Srnicek, philosophy, Ray Kurzweil, Silicon Valley, Singularity, superintelligence, tech entrepreneurs, transhumanism, Tucker Carlson, Vincent Lê}

“Accelerating” Toward a Post-Human Future, and Loving It

_{Denyse O’Leary
June 16, 2026

Bioethics, Computational Sciences

5}

There is a lot of AI Apocalypse Now! and AI Utopia Soon! in the news these days. Read More ›

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith

Date
June 14, 2026

Categories
Bioethics
Medicine
Tagged
, assisted suicide, authority, business, chronic pain, despair, disability, doctors, Gallup, love, media, medicine, moral acceptability, opinions, physician-assisted suicide, poll, popular culture, prevention, rescue, respondents, self-termination, spouse, suicide, terminal sickness}

On Morality of Suicide, a Wide Disparity of Opinion; Why?

_{Wesley J. Smith
June 14, 2026

Bioethics, Medicine

3}

Close to a majority, 49 percent, answered that committing suicide with a doctor’s help is morally acceptable, while 45 percent responded that it is not. Read More ›

Carer in latex gloves feeding an aged lady

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith

Date
June 4, 2026

Categories
Bioethics
Medicine
Tagged
, advance directive, autonomy, caregivers, chemotherapy, comfort feeding, death, dementia, Dementia-Specific Advance Directives, dignity, euthanasia, feeding tubes, food, kidney dialysis, medical treatments, New Jersey, nourishment, public policy, spoon-feeding, undernourishment, water}

Mission to Kill Dementia Patients Moves Forward

_{Wesley J. Smith
June 4, 2026

Bioethics, Medicine

2}

By all means, prohibit forced feeding, but also provide that patients be given all nourishment they want. Read More ›

Hands of an elderly man resting on a walking cane

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith

Date
May 30, 2026

Categories
Bioethics
Medicine
Tagged
, antipsychotics, assisted suicide, bioethicists, Bioethics (journal), confusion, decision‐making, dehydration, distress, doctors, encouragement, euthanasia, fluids, HIV, palliating doctor, patients, physicians, professional journals, refractory delirium, self-starvation, suffering, suicide, suicide assistance, syringes, terminal sedation, voluntary stop eating and drinking, VSED}

Journal Advocates “Terminal Sedation” for People Committing Suicide by Self-Starving

_{Wesley J. Smith
May 30, 2026

Bioethics, Medicine

5}

Articles in professional journals are a means of constructing future public policy and people need to be warned. Read More ›

Depressed woman sitting on floor covering face with hands in despair

^{Type
post

Author
Wesley J. Smith

Date
April 15, 2026

Categories
Bioethics
Medicine
Tagged
, adolescents, detransitioners, Finland, gender, gender reassignment, hormones, ideologues, lawmakers, malpractice, mastectomies, medical ethics, mental health, Paediatrica, patients, psychiatric morbidity, psychiatric treatment, puberty blockers, young adults}

Study Finds Gender Reassignment Harmed Mental Health of Adolescents

_{Wesley J. Smith
April 15, 2026

Bioethics, Medicine

4}

Hopefully, this study will aid the many lawsuits being filed by childhood victims (detransitioners). Read More ›