FONDAZIONE GIANNINO BASSETTI

Synthetic Modeling of Life and Cognition

In recent decades researchers in various scientific domains have been working intensely on procedures directed to exploring life and cognition in a 'synthetic' way, i.e. through modeling in artificial systems ('made by humans'). In September a workshop at University of Bergamo. - Leggi 

The Rise of the Biotechnosciences

The RSA (The Renaissance Society of America) recently published a video and audio recording of Stephen and Hilary Rose debating 'The Rise of the Biotechnosciences'. - Leggi 

23andMe Awarded Their First Patent

Following on from my post about my attendance at the Architecture for Life conference at the Kennedy School of Government I would like to direct readers to a very interesting and informative article. - Leggi 

More Medical Patent Problems

The US Supreme Court recently ruled that that a personalized medicine dosing process is not eligible for patent protection because the process is effectively an unpatentable law of nature. This ruling could have wide reaching implications. - Leggi 

Sustainable food provisioning, technology or trust?

Dutch Scientists recently announced that they had grown artificial meat from stem cells in an experiment that they hope could provide an alternative source of meat food production for the planet. - Leggi 

Planet of the Apes

If you find yourself at a loss for a Christmas present for a like-minded adult, might I suggest that you consider the new Planet of the Apes film, released last week on DVD and Blue Ray? It raises a lot of important ethical issues. - Leggi 

Deadly Monopolies by H. A. Washington, a book review

Washington's book reveals how human life is becoming a subsidiary of the medical industrial complex. A book review followed by a review of related articles. - Leggi 

Cristina Grasseni at the Harvard STS Circle

On Monday 28th of November long time Bassetti Foundation collaborator Dr Cristina Grasseni chaired a seminar at The STS Circle (Science, Technology and Society), part of the Harvard Kennedy School in Boston. - Leggi 

iGEM Synthetic Biology World Championships

In this post we review the 2011 iGEM World Championship Jamboree and take a look back at articles published on this site that address the topic of synthetic biology. - Leggi 

Is Citizen Science Coming of Age?

In this post Jonny Hankins takes a look at a scientific breakthrough made by players of the online game 'Fold.it', and casts a glance at other citizen science projects. - Leggi 

Prosthetic by choice?

Following on from the arguments raised during the discussion with athlete Marta Milani, this article looks at some of the issues posed by advances in prosthetic technology, and the issue of a patient's choice to amputate a hand in order to have a prosthetic hand fitted. - Leggi 

Home genetic testing and the law

As a lead up to the presentation entitled that will be delivered by Margaret Curnutte here at the Bassetti Foundation in Milan on 16th May I would like to take a brief look at the way in which the legal community and governmental regulatory organizations view the problem of home genetic testing. - Leggi 

The price of life of a premature baby

On Wednesday 9th March the BBC will air a documentary entitled 23 Week babies : The price of life in which director Adam Wishart addresses the problem of the cost involved in saving premature babies. - Leggi 

The Genes and Patent issue

Reversing a longstanding policy, the federal government said on Friday that human and other genes should not be eligible for patents because they are part of nature... - Leggi 

Biologia sintetica

A Roma il 15 aprile si terrà un convegno dal titolo "La biologia sintetica. Dal corpo bionico al post-umano, passando per la bioeconomia" a cura dell'European Centre for Science, Ethics and Law. Consigli di lettura. - Leggi 

Home DNA Testing for all the Family

On 17th November 2009 home DNA testing kits went on over the counter sale for the first time in high street chemists in the UK. These kits allow the DNA testing of a child's paternity and involve the taking of saliva from both the child and the 'alleged father's' mouth (their terminology) and its analysis. - Leggi 

An Ethics For Emerging Technologies

In this article Jonny Hankins reviews a recent report entitled Ethical Issues in Synthetic Biology; a review of the debates, published by the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington DC. - Leggi 

An Introduction to Synthetic Biology

In this the first in a series of posting, Jonny Hankins takes a look at a recent Royal Academy of Engineering report concerning synthetic biology. - Leggi