Civil Society

Civil society typically refers to nonprofit advocacy organizations, sometimes called nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), that are political actors separate from government and private enterprises. For many important social issues, there are dense networks of civil society institutions. In general, they play an important role in holding governments accountable, countering the power of corporations, and contributing to democratic governance. Discussions of the social consequences of human biotechnologies are incomplete without the inclusion of civil society perspectives – for example, from reproductive, disability, LGBTQI, racial, and environmental justice movements – because of the potential for these technologies to exacerbate existing inequalities and create new ones.


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How do you stop a mad scientist?

We’ve been doing it in fiction for centuries. Doctor Faustus was carried off to hell. Pneumonia and an Arctic ice flow ended Victor FrankensteinDoctor Moreau’s own creations ultimately did him...

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California is being sued over its DNA collection practices, and the only thing that’s surprising is how long it took. In 2004, state voters passed Proposition 69, which requires authorities to collect DNA from anyone arrested for a felony. The...

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Advocates of science are in a bad place right now. Some days, in this Second Year of Trump, scientism—a blanket...

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This week, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts announced that geneticists had analyzed her DNA and proved her longstanding claim that...

Hall displaying several Nobel Prize Laureates.

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A person suited in bioharzard gear, examines a sample of corn in a field.

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Close up photo of a hand clock.

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A gloved hand holds several connected test tubes filled with clear liquid.

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Portrait photo of Mildred Solomon

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Black and white graphic displaying DNA strands within tubes that are lined up.

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Interior of an empty courthouse, viewed in the perspective of any observer.

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