Neuroethics in Science (Murphy)

Just in time for the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting, Science has published an editorial by Stanford Law professor Hank Greely.  The brief editorial describes some of the work neuroethics has done and where the big questions in the field may take us.  The Neuroethics Society, The Dana Foundation, AAAS, and The MacArthur Law and Neuroscience project are highlighted as pioneers of funding and network-building, but the editorial concludes with a call for more and sustained support for research:

The U.S. Human Genome project had a program for studying the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of genetics, but no similar program exists for neuroscience, although we are our brains far more truly that we are our genomes.  The ELSI program may not be the right model, but funds are essential to promote this kind of research, particularly by medical school researchers who depend on grants.  In these days of tight federal budges, money is hard to get.  But to fund science without supporting work on its social consequences will ensure that the neuroscience revolution brings far too much social pain and chaos along with its scientific and medical breakthroughs.