What were the bioethical issues back then?
The first generation of bio-ethicists concentrated mainly on three medical issues – kidney dialysis, abortion and deciding when someone was legally dead. Research bioethics came into its own beginning with the scandalous facts of the Tuskegee Study in the late 1970’s. Since then, bioethics has been spurred by developments in biotechnology, the genetics revolution, and stem cells. How do you see your role? I think I have two roles. In my popular work, I think of myself as a kind of prophet, calling out “Stop!” when people seem to be heading in the wrong direction. One issue where I do that is with stem cells and the immense potential they might have to help very sick people. Many people don’t understand stem cells. When they think of stem cells and cloning they come up with all sorts of wrong ideas. My role is to warn them that they’re making a big mistake. That’s my popular work. In my other role, I deal with research; I do surveys and observational studies. Luckily, the audience for m
