Press Releases

What challenges do the procedures offered by reproductive medicine represent for our understanding of self-determination, family and society? Should the creation of so-called three-parent babies be allowed? What individual and social problems and opportunities might egg donation and surrogacy, as well as long-term egg freezing, bring to the women, children and families involved? And what needs for political action may arise from this? At its Annual Meeting in Berlin on 22 May, the German Ethics Council discussed these and many other questions together with speakers, three members of the Bundestag and more than 350 guests.

During a plenary session held on 8 May 2014, the German Ethics Council conducted a public hearing concerning research on human embryonic stem cells created by somatic cell nuclear transfer and on induced pluripotent stem cells, and discussed the legal challenges that might arise from it.

How shall we deal appropriately with research that aims to contribute to medical progress or other important goals of society, when the results might also be misused by bioterrorists or other criminals? In its opinion on this question, "Biosecurity – freedom and responsibility of research", the German Ethics Council presented today five recommendations to the Federal Government and the public. They range from implementing educational programmes on biosecurity and the development of a national biosecurity code of conduct for responsible research to proposals concerning binding regulations and international initiatives.

On Wednesday, 26 March 2014, the German Ethics Council hosted a public discussion on the topic of 'People with Disabilities – a Challenge for Hospitals' in Munich, as part of the 'Bioethics Forum' series of events.

Representatives of the German Ethics Council (Deutscher Ethikrat), the Austrian Bioethics Commission at the Federal Chancellery (Bioethikkommission beim Bundeskanzleramt), and the Swiss National Advisory Commission on Biomedical Ethics (Nationale Ethikkommission im Bereich der Humanmedizin) convened in Berlin for their second joint session on 11 March 2014. The President of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag), Professor Dr. Norbert Lammert, had already welcomed the group in the Bundestag on the eve of the meeting and emphasised the significance of ethics discussions both for politics and for mutual understanding within Europe.

This was the central question posed by the German Ethics Council during its autumn conference at the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts, which was attended by over 250 people. What does neuroimaging reveal about a person’s personality, about what he or she is experiencing and about his or her behaviour? Can neuroimaging make a contribution towards the diagnosis of psychological ailments and the adjudication of offenders? What challenges arise in the field of medical ethics as a result of unexpected findings or untreatable ailments coming to light?