---
title: "Nuffield Council on Bioethics"
chunk: 2/2
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuffield_Council_on_Bioethics"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:23:56.610689+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

== Publications ==
Climate change and health: embedding ethics into policy and decision making (Jan 2025) 
Stem cell-based embryo models (November 2024) 
Predicting: The future of health (Sept 2024) 
Disagreements in the care of critically ill children (Sept 2023) 
The future of ageing: Ethical Considerations for research and innovation (April 2023) 
Genome editing and human reproduction: social and ethical issues (July 2018) 
Human embryo culture: Discussions concerning the statutory time limit for maintaining human embryos in culture in the light of some recent scientific developments (August 2017) 
Cosmetic procedures: ethical issues (June 2017) 
Non-invasive prenatal testing: ethical issues (March 2017) 
Genome editing: an ethical review (September 2016) 
(un)natural: Ideas about naturalness in public and political debates about science, technology and medicine (December 2015)
Children and clinical research: ethical issues (May 2015)
The collection, linking and use of data in biomedical research and healthcare: ethical issues (February 2015)
The findings of a series of engagement activities exploring the culture of scientific research in the UK (December 2014)
Novel neurotechnologies: intervening in the brain (June 2013)
Donor conception: ethical aspects of information sharing (April 2013)
Emerging biotechnologies: technology, choice and the public good (December 2012)
Novel techniques for the prevention of mitochondrial DNA disorders: an ethical review (2012)
Human bodies: donation for medicine and research (2011) 
Biofuels: ethical issues (2011) 
Medical profiling and online medicine: the ethics of 'personalised healthcare' in a consumer age (2010) 
Dementia: ethical issues (2009)
Public health: ethical issues (2007)
The forensic use of bioinformation: ethical issues (2007)
Critical care decisions in fetal and neonatal medicine: ethical issues (2006)
Genetic Screening: a Supplement to the 1993 Report by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2006)
The ethics of research involving animals (2005)
The ethics of research related to healthcare in developing countries: a follow-up Discussion Paper (2005)
The use of genetically modified crops in developing countries: a follow-up Discussion Paper (2003)
Pharmacogenetics: ethical issues (2003)
Genetics and human behaviour: the ethical context (2002)
The ethics of patenting DNA: a discussion paper (2002)
The ethics of research related to healthcare in developing countries (2002)
Stem cell therapy: the ethical issues – a discussion paper (2000)
The ethics of clinical research in developing countries: a discussion paper (1999)
Genetically modified crops: the ethical and social issues (1999)
Mental disorders and genetics: the ethical context (1998)
Animal-to-human transplants: the ethics of Xenotransplantation (1996)
Human tissue: ethical and legal issues (1995)
Genetic screening: ethical issues (1993)

== Influence ==
The Council's recommendations to policy makers have often been described as 'influential'.

== Funding ==
The Council was entirely funded by the Nuffield Foundation from 1991 to 1994. Since 1994, the Council has been jointly funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the Medical Research Council and The Wellcome Trust on a five-year rolling system. Towards the end of each five-year period, a process of external review is a condition of continued support. Funding has been confirmed until 2022 following the satisfactory completion of the latest funding bid.

== Ethical approach ==
The Council takes the view that its terms of reference do not require it to adopt the same ethical framework or set of principles in all reports. The Council is therefore not bound by the values of particular schools of philosophy (for example, utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics) or approaches in bioethics, such as the 'four principles of bioethics' (autonomy, justice, beneficence, non-maleficence), or the Barcelona Principles (autonomy, dignity, integrity, vulnerability).
In 2006-7, John Harris, Professor of Bioethics at the University of Manchester, and Dr Sarah Chan carried out an external review of the way ethical frameworks, principles, norms and guiding concepts feature in the Council's publications. The authors found that the ethical frameworks used in the Council's publications had become increasingly explicit and transparent.

== References ==

== External links ==
Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Nuffield Foundation
Medical Research Council
Wellcome Trust