Course description. This interdisciplinary and interactive course will focus on contemporary issues in bioethics and is designed for students in biomedical engineering. Each  topic will cover both the underlying science of new biotechnologies and the subsequent bioethical issues that emerge from these technologies. Topics will include scientific fraud, animal experimentation, nanotechnology, stem cell research, neuroethics, genetic screening, emerging global infections, and health care technology in the developing world. 

Assignments. Weekly reading assignments involve about one hour of work. Written  assignments should be submitted by e mail to jdl5@columbia.edu and rf416@columbia.edu by Tuesday 10:00 pm and should be less than one page. These assignments are tabulated in computing your final grade and with class participation accounts for 30% of your grade. The midterm and final accounts for 35% each. Each student will be required to attend four off-site visits to experience bioethics within a different venue. These visits must include one bioethics committee meeting at the medical center and three seminars in bioethics offered by the Center for Bioethics at the medical center, bioethical seminars  by other departments, such as philosophy, or The Center for the Study of Science and Religion. A one page critique must be written about each of these off-site visits. The critique should summarize the information presented and then analyze its validity, content or conclusions.

 Each week any member of the class can meet with me (from 2:00 pm until class) to discuss any scientific topic.