In this recorded professional learning session, Lyn Rogers and Andrea Soanes explore the Science Learning Hub's Ethics thinking toolkit. They...
Download the Ethics thinking toolkit, which provides a structured framework for scaffolding student thinking about an ethical issue.
As science and technology advance, ethical issues are brought to the fore not only for scientists and technologists but also...
In the Māori world, animals are related to humans through whakapapa. Animals as well as humans are descendants of ngā...
This article asks us to consider why we like some animals more than others and whether this matters when it comes to conservation. Biologist Sophie Fern...
Aotearoa New Zealand faces a wicked problem – do we kill introduced pests or do we allow them to kill our native animals, damage our forests...
The New Zealand Ministry of Health defines water fluoridation as: "The process of adjusting the natural level of fluoride in the water supply to between 0.7...
In June 2013, Hamilton’s city councillors voted to stop adding fluoride, used to protect teeth from tooth decay, to Hamilton’s drinking water. National public reaction and...
Ahi Pepe MothNet is a citizen science project that explores New Zealand’s native moths, their distributions and whether vegetation restoration impacts moth diversity. One aspect of...
Humans have been manipulating living organisms for thousands of years. Examples of early biotechnologies include domesticating plants and animals and then selectively breeding them for specific...
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to make millions of copies of a target piece of DNA. It is an indispensable tool in modern molecular...
Wicked problems are problems that are incredibly complicated and difficult to solve. In fact, solving one aspect may reveal or create other problems – but that...
An inquiry approach is a method often used in science education. The question bank provides an initial list of questions about nanoscience and places where their...
Nanoscience involves the study of chemical and physical changes that happen at the nanoscale. Researchers and scientists are interested in the nanoscale, because when many materials...
Television dramas like CSI Bones and Criminal Minds – can create false expectations and impressions of forensic science, especially in the courtroom. Listen to this radio...
Professor Greg Hampikian has developed a DNA barcode system that permanently marks DNA samples, preventing them from being muddled with others. Professor Hampikian, who is chair...
In October 2012, Living Cell Technologies were granted permission by Minister of Health Tony Ryall for trials involving transplanting specially coated pig cells into the human...
Being trapped inside your own body, unable to move or communicate, is the stuff of nightmares. How does a medical practitioner or loved one know that...
There is a worldwide shortage of deceased organ donors. In this theme, we explore ways of increasing the availability of cells, tissues and organs for transplants....
Worldwide there are approximately 150,000 people waiting for an organ transplant at any one time, 400 of them are in New Zealand. Each year many thousands...
Organ donation can help treat disease and save lives. New Zealand has a low rate of organ donation compared with other countries. How could this be...
Xenotransplantation entails transplanting cells or organs (for example pancreatic cells, a heart or a kidney) from an individual of one species into an individual of another...
This timeline features some of the key events in xenotransplantation from the early 1900s onwards. For a more detailed history see our History of xenotransplantation article....
Xenotransplantation was attempted unsuccessfully in the early 1900s. Several key research developments over the last 100 years now mean that the first xenotransplant treatments could be...
Xenotransplantation is when living cells, tissues or organs are transplanted between species. To be successful in humans, xenotransplants must overcome issues of transplant rejection, cross-species infection...
Living Cell Technologies (LCT) is a New Zealand company at the forefront of xenotransplantation research. Use our resources to explore why and how they’re using pig...
Pig cell transplants raise ethical issues, such as whether it is right to use animals to benefit humans and what impact an individual’s right to treatment...
Clinical trials of Living Cell Technologies (LCT) pig cell transplants began in 2009. The trials show that encapsulated pig cells are safe and improve blood sugar...
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