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Improving Humans in the 21st Century: A Public Forum Sponsored by Portland State University and Geneforum

Portland, OR – Feb. 1, 2006 – The convergence of genetics, robotics, information and nano technologies will improve human performance and capabilities like never before. What kind of society will this new phase of technological development bring about?

Business leaders in Oregon have made many of these technologies a priority for the state and see them as a way to grow Oregon’s economy. In 2003 Oregon took a major step toward becoming a national leader in the development of “small tech” by establishing the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI), of which Portland State University’s Center for Emerging Technologies is a collaborator.

Portland State University and Geneforum, a Portland-based non-profit that educates, engages, and consults the public on bioethical issues, have invited James Hughes, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies at Trinity College and author of Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future to discuss the science, ethics, and ramifications of improving humans through technology. Hughes will speak on Monday, February 6, from 10 – 11:30 a.m. at PSU’s Smith Memorial Student Union, 1825 SW Broadway, Room 294. The forum is free and open to the public.

“An integral part of Geneforum’s mission is to encourage public dialogue and collect public values as these technologies develop rather than after they are already established,” said Greg Fowler, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor of Biology at Portland State University and Executive Director of Geneforum. “This is a rare opportunity for Oregonians to share their values while these new technologies are still in the early stages.”

In addition, Hughes will meet with PSU faculty and chairs of the Hatfield School and the Department of Engineering and Technology Management to stress how universities can guide the future direction and impact of new technologies through the creation of specialized interdisciplinary policy centers or institutes.

"Technological progress is happening much faster than most of the public and most public policy makers are aware,” said Hughes. “Issues such as neo-eugenics, genetic enhancement, cloning, and gene doping in sports are now pressing and imminent concerns. Multidisciplinary groups dedicated to pulling together the economic, philosophical and democratic concerns that these emerging technologies raise, are absolutely critical today."

The public forum is sponsored by: Geneforum; University Studies Capstone Course; Center for Public Participation, National Policy Consensus Center, Hatfield School of Government; Department of Engineering and Technology Management; and the Center for Academic Excellence.

Geneforum Interview with Insoo Hyun: Ethical thinking guides new South Korean World Stem Cell Hub

As the embryonic stem cell debate rages in the United States, the South Korean World Stem Cell Hub has deployed a more practical and less acrimonious approach for guiding advancements in this area of research. In an interview conducted by Geneforum, Korean-born Insoo Hyun, Ph.D., a bioethicist at Case Western Reserve University and co-chair of the South Korean World Stem Cell Hub Ethics Working Group, describes how a cooperative and open dialogue between the Hub and the South Korean government has allowed him, at the onset, to train researchers to think ethically about embryonic stem cell research. "If you don't think about the ethical issues, there will be a time when it will hinder your basic science research, like what's happening in the U.S," says Hyun in the interview. "You really need to be involved in the ethical discussion from the start." The interview with Marie Godfrey, writer of Geneforum's blog, Genetizen, tells about the innovative ways ethics, preclinical/in vitro science, and clinical studies are being integrated in South Korea. UPDATE: There are a number of news stories today about the announcement of the World Stem Cell Hub in South Korea. See articles in the San Francisco Chronicle and the New York Times (subscription required).

Ethical thinking helps guide new South Korean World Stem Cell Hub

Portland, OR – Oct. 18, 2005 – As the embryonic stem cell debate rages in the United States, the South Korean World Stem Cell Hub has deployed a more practical and less acrimonious approach for guiding advancements in this area of research. In an interview conducted by Geneforum, a Portland-based non-profit that educates, engages and consults the public on bioethical issues, Korean-born Insoo Hyun, Ph.D., a bioethicist at Case Western Reserve University and co-chair of the South Korean World Stem Cell Hub Ethics Working Group, describes how a cooperative and open dialogue between the Bank and the S. Korean government has allowed him, at the onset, to train researchers to think ethically about embryonic stem cell research. "If you don't think about the ethical issues, there will be a time when it will hinder your basic science research, like what's happening in the U.S,” says Hyun in the interview. "You really need to be involved in the ethical discussion from the start." Hyun sees the work of the Ethics Working Group as advisory in nature, rather than as a body that provides oversight or policing. As researchers work on projects, and issues start to come up, they “come to us and immediately ask, well, what do you think of this or that?” says Hyun. "Part of the challenge is to train them to see where some of the ethical dilemmas lie.” Hyun remembers one exchange where he asked: "If we tell you that it is ethically problematic, you won't do it? And they (the scientists) said, no." When asked about opposition within Korea to the Hub's work, Hyun pointed out that one of the Hub's key researchers is both female and Catholic and that she is “especially concerned with trying to reach out and address the religious concerns about their research.” “The Hub's approach represents a new paradigm for dealing with controversial genomic technologies,” said Greg Fowler, Ph.D., executive director of Geneforum. “In the U.S. we generally let the research forge ahead and only after it raises the ire of the public do we sit down and try to address the ethical and public policy issues. This kind of approach will only continue to hamper our efforts to compete in this exciting and economically important area.”

Researchers look to head off gene doping before it starts (Oregonian)

Researchers look to head off gene doping before it starts

Rachel Bachman, OregonLive.com, February 7, 2005

Researchers look to head off gene doping before it starts: So far, no test can detect the manipulation, which has far-reaching implications for sports

For decades, doping in sports has been a mismatched race: the drug-taking athletes and their agents sprinting in front, sports' governing bodies and their tests lagging behind.

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Genetic 'doping' imminent problem for athletes: Experts (AP)

Genetic 'doping' imminent problem for athletes: Experts

William McCall (AP)
Portland (Oregon), February 12|10:46 IST

The 2008 Olympics are still a long way away but worries are already growing about whether it will become the first genetically enhanced competition in amateur sports.

Dr. Theodore Friedmann, a top adviser to the World Anti-Doping Agency, said the arrival of so-called "gene doping" to enhance performance is "inevitable".

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Top Experts and Olympic Cyclist to Address Gene Doping in Sports at Public Forum

(Portland, Ore.) February 7, 2005 - Most of today's synthetic performance-enhancing drugs, from anabolic steroids to erythropoietin (EPO), may be abandoned in favor of "gene doping” the modification of a person's genetic makeup to improve athletic performance. Unlike current performance-enhancing drugs, gene doping will be far more effective and virtually undetectable.

Thomas Murray, Ph.D., a bioethics expert and president of the Hastings Center, believes, there will be "a great deal of gossip about genetic enhancement" as well as entrepreneurs offering it, as early as the 2008 Olympics. Ted Friedmann, M.D., a gene therapy expert from the University of San Diego, recently said it wouldn't surprise any of us if tomorrow we picked up a newspaper and saw that (an athlete) had died of a stroke after getting involved with gene therapy.

To address this issue, two world-renowned experts in gene therapy, ethics and law and one world-class athlete will be laying the framework for one of the first public discussions in the United States linking genetic enhancement to the future of sports. The public discussion Super Athletes: A Public Dialogue about Genetic Enhancement and Sports, will be held at a free breakfast forum on Friday, February 11, 2005 from 8-11 a.m. at Portland State University's Smith Memorial Student Union, Multicultural Center, Room 228 (1825 SW Broadway). For more information about the event or to make reservations contact PSU's Center for Academic Excellence at caestaff@pdx.edu or 503-725-5642. Space is limited.

Panelists will include:

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Oregon Public Wants Greater Control Over Genetic Material

Oregon Public Wants Greater Control Over Genetic Material

PORTLAND, OR -- September 19, 2002 -- Geneforum, a non-profit organization based in Portland, OR, today announced the results of a statewide telephone survey indicating that most of the state's citizens would like to retain control over the use of their genetic material -- even when offered assurances that there's no way for the information to be traced back to original donors.

"Generally, the removal of identifiable personal data is seen by lawmakers as the key issue in these matters," said Dr. Gregory L. Fowler, executive director of Geneforum. "That is, in order to convince people that they can safely relinquish blood or tissue samples to genetic researchers, it's usually considered sufficient to simply offer assurances that all personal identifiers will be removed. The results from this survey challenge that assumption by showing that people want to exercise even broader control over how their genetic material is to be used. Geneforum will be sharing this data with Oregon lawmakers to help inform legislation on genetic privacy concerns here in Oregon as well as in other states."

Geneforum is working closely with the state Advisory Committee on Genetic Privacy and Research to provide the Oregon legislature with reports on public opinions and values regarding the use of genetic material in research. Geneforum's role in this process is to help the committee gather public input using a variety of strategies, including focus groups, Internet discussions, talk radio, and public opinion polling.

"Geneforum played a key role in getting language inserted in Oregon's Senate Bill 114 that mandated the creation of an advisory committee that would elicit public input within the fields of genetic privacy and research," said Senator David Nelson, Oregon legislator and advisory committee member. "Public policy decisions regarding genetic research in the state would be well advised to take these latest findings of Geneforum into account."

About the Survey

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Genetic 'doping' imminent problem for athletes, experts say

The 2008 Olympics are still a long way away but worries are already growing about whether it will become the first genetically enhanced competition in the crown jewel of international amateur sports.

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