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Biotech

reportMar 17, 2022

Illustration shows Vitruvian man drawing and a computer wireframe

Public views are tied to how these technologies would be used and what constraints would be in place.

short readMay 4, 2022

Many Americans who are highly religious and identify with certain Christian traditions express discomfort with human enhancement.

short readDec 15, 2020

A robot barista that uses artificial intelligence demonstrates its coffee-making process at the 2020 AI Expo Korea in Seoul. (Chris Jung/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

As artificial intelligence plays a growing role in the everyday lives of people around the world, views on AI’s impact on society are mixed.

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Biotech

Publications

reportNov 21, 2013

To End Our Days

In recent years, legislatures and courts, religious leaders and scientists, citizens and patient advocates have all weighed in on end-of-life issues ranging from whether the terminally ill should have the right to take their own lives to how much treatment and sustenance those in the last stages of life should receive.
reportNov 21, 2013

Religious Groups’ Views on End-of-Life Issues

Religious leaders, scholars and ethicists from 16 major American religious groups explain how their faith traditions’ teachings address physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia and other end-of-life questions.
featureNov 21, 2013

Timeline: Key Dates in the End-of-Life Debate

Issues surrounding the end of life have been debated since long before New York became the first state to explicitly outlaw assisted suicide in 1828. This timeline looks at major events on the topic in the U.S. since the 1960s. Related Publications: Nov. 21, 2013 Views on End-of-Life Medical Treatments Nov. 21, 2013 To End […]
reportAug 15, 2013

Abortion Viewed in Moral Terms

Most Americans think that having an abortion is a moral issue, but the public is much less likely to see other issues involving human embryos – such as stem cell research or in vitro fertilization – as a matter of morality.
reportAug 15, 2013

Abortion Viewed in Moral Terms: Fewer See Stem Cell Research and IVF as Moral Issues

Regardless of their views about the legality of abortion, most Americans think that having an abortion is a moral issue. By contrast, the public is much less likely to see other issues involving human embryos – such as stem cell research or in vitro fertilization – as a matter of morality.
short readsAug 8, 2013

Racial and ethnic groups view “radical life extension” differently

Blacks and Hispanics (46% each) are somewhat more inclined than whites (34%) to say they would want treatments to dramatically extend life.
reportAug 6, 2013

To Count Our Days: The Scientific and Ethical Dimensions of Radical Life Extension

The prospect of dying has always fascinated, haunted and, ultimately, defined human beings. From the beginnings of civilization, people have contemplated their own mortality – and considered the possibility of immortality.
reportAug 6, 2013

Living to 120 and Beyond: Americans’ Views on Aging, Medical Advances and Radical Life Extension

If new medical treatments could slow the aging process and allow people to live decades longer, would you want to? Most Americans say no, but roughly two-thirds think that most other people would say yes.
reportAug 6, 2013

Living to 120 and Beyond: Americans’ Views on Aging, Medical Advances and Radical Life Extension

If new medical treatments could slow the aging process and allow people to live to age 120 and beyond, would you want to? Most Americans say “no” – they would not want a radically extended life span. But roughly two-thirds think that most other people would.
featureAug 6, 2013

How Long Do You Want To Live?

With falling birthrates and rising life expectancies, the U.S. population is rapidly aging. Research aimed at unlocking the secrets of aging is underway at universities and corporate labs, and some biomedical researchers think future medical treatments might be able to slow, stop or reverse the aging process and allow people to live decades longer than […]