Joint Center for Bioethics, University of Toronto Emerging Medical, Environmental Breakthroughs Hold Revolutionary Promise; Experts Call for UN Body to Help Share Knowledge Worldwide A global campaign to foster the universal sharing of innovative medical andenvironmental breakthroughs created through the world’s emerging knowledge of genomics could save tens of millions of lives per year in […]
05 Aug 04 Census of Marine Life Exploring life in the mid-Atlantic at various depths down to 4 km (2.5 miles), 60 scientists from 13 countries on a two-month expedition have surfaced a wealth of new information and insights, stunning images and marine life specimens, several thought to be species never before known to science. […]
Joint Center for Bioethics, University of Toronto Research will enable personalized diets tailored to genetic make up New research designed to help consumers create customized diets based on their genetic make up will create ethical and legal challenges with serious implications for the scientific and medical communities, warns a new consultation paper by a panel […]
24 Jun 04 Census of Marine Life A new ‘Census of Marine Life’ project based in Alaska with global partners seeks to find lifeforms in the world’s oldest seawater. Full text: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-06/coml-mic061804.php Example coverage: By MSNBC, from the Associated Press / Reuters, click here Agence France Presse, click here
13 Jun 04 United Nations University The number of people worldwide vulnerable to a devastating flood is expected to mushroom to 2 billion by 2050 due to climate change, deforestation, rising sea levels and population growth in flood-prone lands, warn experts at the United Nations University. Full text: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-06/unu-tbv060404.php Example coverage Agence France Presse, click […]
Joint Center for Bioethics, University of Toronto The final months and weeks for terminally ill hospital patients could be made better if hospitals simply instituted a systematic process to seek the thoughts of dying patients and families on how to improve the medical care provided, say experts at a leading international medical ethics think tank. […]
Canadian Biotechnology Education Resource Centre, Toronto 13 May 2004 Top winners: Edmonton, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Toronto and Montreal Teen Scientist from Alberta to Compete for Canada in San Francisco June 6 Students from Western Canada swept the top three of five awards announced today in the 2004 National Aventis Biotech Challenge. Students from Edmonton (1st), Winnipeg […]
23 Mar 04 United Nations University Up to one-fifth of the world’s people lack sufficient zinc in their diet, while an estimated one-third live in countries considered at high risk of zinc deficiency, warns a comprehensive new report by an international group of medical researchers. Full text: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-03/unu-eoi031604.php Example coverage, by The Associated Press via […]
07 Mar 04 United Nations University Government incentives are quickly needed worldwide to extend the life of personal computers and slow the growth of high-tech trash, according to a new United Nations University (UNU) report into the environmental consequences of the information technology revolution. Full text: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-03/tca-uss030204.php Example coverage: Agence France Presse, click here […]
United Nations University 19 Feb 2004 To decide whether a new product seeking patent protection is novel or based upon traditional knowledge, officials require free access to indigenous secrets. Several countries have inventoried traditional knowledge in publicly-accessible databases for this purpose as a way to prevent its commercial theft. In many indigenous cultures, however, traditional […]
10 Feb 04 United Nations University A new breed of fund managers looking to pressure businesses to improve social, environmental and ethical performance, a phenomenon started in 1999, now wield more than $640 billion in clout in the UK alone – more than 12% of all managed investments in that nation, according to experts at […]
01 Feb 04 United Nations University Work should be stepped up on international agreements to oversee prospecting efforts in Antarctica by research institutions, universities and pharmaceutical companies to discover and stake ownership to promising organisms and compounds with genetic properties that make survival possible in extremely cold, arid and salty conditions, says a new UN […]
30 Nov 03 United Nations University In an effort to help raise the quality of water management expertise worldwide, the United Nations University has authorized for the first time in its 26-year history a diploma to be granted to global graduates of a unique new online training program called the “UN Water Virtual Learning Center.” […]
Joint Centre for Bioethics, University of Toronto 03 Nov 03 New research designed to help consumers create customized diets based on their genetic make up will create ethical and legal challenges with serious implications for the scientific and medical communities, warns a new consultation paper by a panel of international experts. Full release text: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-11/coml-egn103003.php Example […]
23 Oct 03 Census of Marine Life An estimated 5,000 previously unknown ocean fish species and hundreds of thousands of other marine life forms are yet to be discovered, according to scientists engaged in a massive global scientific collaboration to identify and catalog life in the oceans. www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-10/coml-hmf102203.php Example coverage: The Associated Press, USA “Plenty […]
Joint Center for Bioethics, University of Toronto Students at more than 5,000 Canadian high schools this year will receive tools to take part in an unprecedented nationwide role-playing exercise designed to foster greater social awareness and sensitivity to ethical issues in science. Using materials prepared by the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB) […]
21 Aug 2003 Census of Marine Life International Experts Meet to Expand Study of Seamounts and Submarine Canyons As These Nurseries for New Species Become Subject to Commercial Harvest Amid growing concern over the commercial harvesting of species found in mountainous regions below the ocean surface, more than 30 of the world’s foremost experts are […]
United Nations University, Institute for Water, Environment and Health New Assistant Director Brings Extensive Experience in Move to UNU-INWEH Headquarters; Will organize UN Global Conference on Arsenic Contamination of Drinking Water in 2004 HAMILTON – 27 June, 2003 – The Canadian government has announced a $3 million extension of core funding through 2006 for UNU-INWEH, the […]
United Nations University 20 June 2003 The institution of asylum is “under grave threat” as nations erect ever-higher walls during the war on terrorism, leading many asylum seekers to engage human smugglers as their only means of potentially reaching sanctuary, according to a new analysis from the United Nations University. Published by UNU Press and […]
United Nations University, Tokyo 27 April 2003 New book defines essential building blocks for societies disrupted by conflict Judges should be recruited from the international community until a country disrupted by war can repair its justice system, say experts in a new book on post-war societies published by the United Nations University. Drawing lessons from […]
United Nations University / UNESCO 5 March, 2003 First UN system-wide evaluation of global water resources Faced with “inertia at the leadership level”, the global water crisis will reach unprecedented levels in the years ahead with “growing per capita scarcity of water in many parts of the developing world”, according to a United Nations report […]
Joint Center for Bioethics, University of Toronto Responding to important challenges raised by Toronto’s handling of the SARS crisis, experts from the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB), a leading medical ethics think tank, have designed an ethical framework to guide policy makers and public health authorities through future infectious disease outbreaks. The […]