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Sheldon
Krimsky is professor of Urban
& Environmental Policy at Tufts University. His research has focused
on the linkages between science/technology, ethics/values and public
policy. He has received research support from EPA, FIPSE, NSF, NEH
and a number of private foundations. Professor Krimsky is the author
of six books, co-editor of a collection of papers and has published
over 100 essays and reviews. His current book, Hormonal Chaos:
The Scientific and Social Origins of the Environmental Endocrine Hypothesis,
is about endocrine disrupters.
Professor Krimsky’s expertise
has been tapped by a number of organizations as committee member,
consultant, panel member and chairperson. Currently he serves on the
Board of Directors for the Council for Responsible Genetics and as
a Fellow of the Hastings Center on Bioethics. Professor Krimsky has
been elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science for "seminal scholarship exploring the normative dimensions
and moral implications of science in its social context." |
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Biotechnology, Nature, and
Society
Sheldon Krimsky
Wednesday-Sunday March
20-24, 2002
University of Oklahoma campus
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Discoveries in the science of
genetics that took place in the early 1970s led us to today's
biotechnology revolution. Scientists can move genes from insects
and animals to plants, or from humans to animals. This revolution
is often referred to as "rearranging the building blocks of
life." Proponents of biotechnology claim that evolution is only
the starting point for the recreation of all of biological life.
In this course participants exploree
the historical roots of the controversy over gene splicing.
Students studied the social and
ethical issues around genetically modified seeds and animals.
Will transgenic crops provide new, safe and plentiful supplies
of food or will they contribute to ecological and human health
risks? How can society reap the benefits of biotechnology while
preventing risks to human health and the environment? While
plants and animals are being genetically modified, there are
also many ways that biotechnology will affect human genetics.
The class explored the limits of genetic screening, and the
use of genetic identification in the criminal justice system.
Students explored the ethical guidelines and discuss possible
social controls (if any are required) for medical and forensic
applications of biotechnology. Students had an opportunity to
discuss and engage in background research on different sides
of a topic, to debate, and to propose solutions to contemporary
controversial issues involving science, ethics, and public policy.
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The Class Reading List: (These books and articles supplied
by OSLEP)
Redesigning Life: The
Worldwide Challenge to Genetic Engineering, Brian
Tokar, ed., London: Zed Books, 2001.
Gene Future,
Thomas F. Lee, New York: Plenum, 1993.
Agricultural Biotechnology
and the Environment: Science, Policy, and Social Issues,
Sheldon Krimsky and Roger Wrubel, Ubana, IL, University of
Illinois Press.
Reading Packet.
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