News and blogs

A new report from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB) urges caution over the use of polygenic indices (PGI) data to inform educational policy and practice. We suggest next steps for policymakers and researchers considering the ethical acceptability of applying PGI research in these settings.

Amy Wilkinson, PhD student at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, reflects on her time at the NCOB and discusses learnings from our workshop exploring the implications and applications of epigenetics in human reproduction.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB) has begun working with international partners to develop global guidelines for ethics committees who assess research relating to climate change and health.

Muhammed Afolabi, Associate Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Council member, reflects on the assisted dying debate through the lens of faith-based perspectives.

A new report from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB) combines detailed insights from England’s first Citizens’ Jury on assisted dying and two nationally representative surveys of 2000 people to provide a timely and comprehensive analysis of public views on the topic.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics and the Nuffield Foundation have published an overview of scientific developments in genomics and education. We urge caution over the use of polygenic indices (PGIs) as predictive tools in educational contexts, highlighting areas where further research and ethical scrutiny is needed to assess the implications of translating PGIs into policy and practice.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB) has launched a project to provide decision-makers with the independent evidence they need to better understand arguments for and against extensions to the 14-day time limit on human embryo research.

The Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB) has published a new report highlighting how policy and decision makers in the UK could better navigate the intersection between climate change and health, if they were to embed ethical considerations into its decision-making processes.

Professor Sarah Cunningham-Burley, Chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, reflects on the themes she presented at a recent Royal Society ‘Transforming our future: Engineering biology’ conference.

In 2023, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB) began working in partnership with international experts on a project to explore how ethical advice is sought and utilised during times of crisis. Today, we welcome Dr Marija Antanavičiūtė on a 12-month secondment to lead on the development of a rapid ethical assessment tool.

Read about what the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB) Horizon Scanning (HS) and Foresight team have been up to as part of our ethical lens project.

Council Member Melanie Challenger shares thoughts on adopting a multispecies approach to bioethics.