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Stem cell research needed a boost, after a year that brought US President George W. Bush's veto on federal funding and the fiasco of Hwang Woo-suk's scientific fraud in South [...]

US scientists have developed two new ways of generating embryonic stem cells, designed to avoid some of the ethical objections to current methods that involve destroying 'potential human life'. The [...]

LONDON -- A biotechnology company in Singapore will announce today the discovery of 'a rich new source of stem cells': the outer lining of the umbilical cord. CellResearch Corporation says [...]

Biotechnology has given rise to ethical issues that were not dreamt of when theologists wrote guidelines on human behavior. Cloning gives rise to issues such as where the soul may lie, and whether life should be bought and sold. Human cloning has been declared illegal in a number of countries, but this may not always be the case, and abortion was once also illegal, yet is permitted. Certainties have disappeared and humans have the view that they have become like gods.

The patenting of new genetically-engineered plants has led to fears that poor farmers in poor countries will not be able to afford the improved varieties they need to grow more food and so make more money. The issue is controversial given the many different interests involved, including: countries where useful plants have been found; farmers whose innovations may be commercially exploited elsewhere; and researchers who require free access to genetic material.