Editorial - Familiar Themes

- Darryl Macer, Ph.D.
Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics 9 (1999), 65.

This issue presents a series of papers on two themes that are common in EJAIB and at Tsukuba Roundtable's, namely Genetics and Education. The majority of the papers are from TRT4, and there are more waiting for the next issue from that meeting. We invite more readers to send papers. The editor notes with regret that soon after the publication of the March issue, with a feature on Love and War, the conflict in Serbia and Kosovo erupted and it still continues at the time of writing. Ethnic cleansing must be stopped, but one asks questions on the means...

Genetics offers another means of selection, and we must try to prepare ourselves for the widespread use of genetic tests. In the months of May and June the complete genome of rice may be sequenced, at the company Celera. The human sequence should be finished in the coming two years, and many other genomes as well. The first paper in this issue looks at the concept of privacy, attitudes to genetic disease and family in Japan. We would like to see how family concepts may be challenged by genetics, and how to compare family attitudes across culture. The paper by Sasaki looks at so-called occidental culture, and the questions of cross-cultural ethics.

An international attempt at consensus is the HUGO Ethics Committee Statement on Cloning, adopted at the HUGO meeting in Brisbane, Australia. There are other statements as discussed in the News in Biotechnology section, and we can expect more examination of this topic, in addition to the papers published in EJAIB so far. The issue of cloning will not go away just with the attempts to outlaw it for human reproduction. The isolation and use of human stem cells is expanding, and offers hope for new medical treatment. In this issue Minakshi and Azariah examine some attitudes to cloning from an education survey conducted during a training course in India. There are also three papers on high school education, and the oath sworn by medical students in China. Li et al. make a cross-cultural comparison of hospices in Japan and Taiwan, where there appear to be differences in the level of spiritual care given.

Due to delays in the arrival of a "CD writer" the issuing of the Eubios CD will be delayed, and probably will be only available in September. Nevertheless, it will mean more is on the CD, and the product is more comprehensive. During the summer I will be working on bioethical issues at FAO in Rome. The contact address will come in the next issue, but the Email below will be forwarded there. It does mean that the July issue will be completed in mid-June, and then the following in mid-September. If anyone experiences delays in correspondence of other forms please understand, as several of the team will be there.

Hope to see some of you at TRT5 if not before,

Darryl Macer

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