The Lab Rat of the 21st Century

Christianity today.com (online edition), July 2009

The new executive director at the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity discusses recent bioethical debates.

Interview by Alicia Cohn | posted 7/23/2009 09:28AM

Organ transplantation on the black market and interspecies animal-human embryos might sound like science fiction, but Paige Cunningham says they are the emerging bioethical challenges.

Closer to home, topics such as abortion and stem cell research regularly fill news headlines. Christianity Today spoke with the new executive director at the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity about the overlap between science and ethics.

What new bioethical challenges are you considering?

We've been talking with people from India and Africa about issues like the black market in organ transplantation. Crossing animals and humans has been approved in the U.K. There is a shortage of human eggs, so they want to use animal eggs. The reality is that these bioethical issues are not just an American or a Western concern; they are significant frontline issues around the world.

read more