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SCHENECTADY -- The biggest moral and ethical questions of tomorrow may be answered someday by the students visiting Union College this weekend.
More than 150 bioethics students have gathered at the college for the National Undergraduate Bioethics Conference. It's the first time the conference has been held at a liberal arts school rather than a large university.
"It's a growing field," said Tod Chambers, president of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities and a speaker at the conference.
About a dozen bioethics master's programs have been launched across the nation, including one at Union College, which partnered with Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and another at Albany Medical College's Alden March Bioethics Institute.
Chambers called bioethics the "advice industry." Many hospitals have a staff bioethicist to navigate thorny issues such as end-of-life decisions, organ transplants and decision-making by next of kin.
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Baker noted the general public enjoys a good bioethics debate as well. News stories about human cloning, genetically engineered food and end-of-life cases like Terri Schiavo capture everyone's attention. "This society is fascinated by these subjects," Baker said. Cathleen F. Crowley can be reached at 454-5348 or by e-mail at ccrowley@timesunion.com.
Bioethics put in focus at Union College conference
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