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technology & ethics: related resources
Activity Ideas | Related Resources
Find Below: PBS Web Sites, Other Recommended Links, Recommended Books
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NewsHour Online: Genetic Testing
Examine the different perspectives on the ethics behind testing for genetic disease.
Our Genes, Our Choices
How have the advances in genetics affected the law and society?
NewsHour Online: The Cloning Debate
A discussion of whether cloning, in all its forms, should be banned.
Frontline: "Making Babies"
Examine the benefits and liabilities involved with the revolution in reproductive medicine.
recommended web sites
Frankenstein Exhibit
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/frankenstein/frankhome.html
The National Library of Medicine presents Mary Shelley's Frankenstein via the issues of eugenics, interspecies organ transplants, genetic engineering, and cloning. This site presents the Frankenstein story in the original novel form and film versions. Shelley's novel written almost 200 years ago touches on ethical topics we still debate today about what we consider "acceptable" science?
Subject: Reading & Language Arts
More Recommended Reading & Language Arts Links
Your Genes, Your Choice: Exploring the Issues Raised by Genetic Research
http://www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human_Genome/publicat/genechoice/index.html
An online version of the book which describes the Human Genome Project, this site presents the science behind the project, and the ethical, legal, and social issues that are raised by it. The book describes how scientific progress has made an impact on our daily lives and explains it in understandable language. Each chapter presents a personal story, then describes the scientific background as well as the ethical issues raised in topics such as genetic counseling, DNA fingerprinting, and genetic engineering. A glossary is provided. The book can be viewed on the Web or downloaded in pdf format.
Subject: Health & Fitness
More Recommended Health & Fitness Links
Eugenics Archive
http://www.eugenicsarchive.org/eugenics/
The eugenics movement in the early 1900s was an effort to breed "better" humans by encouraging people with "good genes" to reproduce and discouraging those with "bad genes". At the time, social prejudices influenced scientific study related to eugenics but those theories have been disproved. Eugenicists believed races and ethnic groups should be kept separate, immigration should be restricted, and that people with "unfit" genes should be sterilized. Images including primary source documents can be searched by subject or keyword. There are Flash and text versions of the online exhibits. Some language and images may be offensive.
Subject: Social Studies
More Recommended Social Studies Links
The Doctor's Trial
http://www.ushmm.org/research/doctors/index.html
During the Holocaust, Nazi doctors conducted horrific experiments on thousands of prisoners in the concentration camps, including children. Experiments subjected people to malaria, hypothermia, torture, and other atrocities. In 1946, the Nuremberg military tribunal began criminal proceedings against Nazi physicians for their participation in war crimes and crimes against humanity. This site from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum presents excerpts from the official trial record, with accompanying photographs. The Nuremberg Code resulted in a list of principles for permissible human experiments.
Subject: Science & Technology
More Recommended Science & Technology Links
recommended books
How the Cows Turned Mad
By Maxime Schwartz
Published March 2003
Grades: 9-12
Subjects: Health & Fitness
Can we safely eat beef? Despite the early hype, French molecular biologist Schwartz argues that transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or Mad Cow Disease as it is sensationally termed will continue to be a minor cause of human death. The author follows the trail of a disease that was first identified in English sheep in the eighteenth century and examines the progress of science that has enabled a better, though still incomplete, understanding of its biology.
More Recommended Health & Fitness Books
The Hidden Connections: Integrating the Biological, Cognitive, and Social Dimensions of Life into a Science of Sustainability
By Fritjof Capra
Published August 2002
Grades: 9-12
Subjects: Science & Technology
Capra's central argument is that to sustain life in the future social institutions must adopt principles consistent with those of nature. He examines management of organizations, economic globalization, and biotechnology. He concludes by offering an alternative to economic globalization.
More Recommended Science & Technology Books
Digital Soul: Intelligent Machines and Human Values
By Thomas Georges
Published March 2003
Grades: 6-8; 9-12
Subjects: Science & Technology
This look at the ethical issues inherent in artificial intelligence is written for a general audience. The author, a physicist and science writer, explores What is consciousness? Can computers be conscious? Should thinking and feeling machines be entitled to human rights? Will we evolve into biomechanical race? And Should we worry about being taken over by machines?
More Recommended Science & Technology Books