Life sciences have huge controversial social implications. In doing experiments with animals, plants or humans the welfare of these living beings can be hampered; in communicating research results private and public interests can be harmed (patents ) or at least severely influenced; in being a member of a research group issues of human rights (like discriminatory behaviour) can become prominent; individual and collective forms of responsibility because of controversial types of research can become urgent.

Funding organizations can confront scientists and engineers with new ethical...

Life sciences have huge controversial social implications. In doing experiments with animals, plants or humans the welfare of these living beings can be hampered; in communicating research results private and public interests can be harmed (patents ) or at least severely influenced; in being a member of a research group issues of human rights (like discriminatory behaviour) can become prominent; individual and collective forms of responsibility because of controversial types of research can become urgent.

Funding organizations can confront scientists and engineers with new ethical...

Concern about the environmental impacts of transgenic crops is one of the major reasons for the EU's quasi-moratorium on GMOs. The contributions in this book show that the economic implications of these concerns are far-reaching and complex. They range from the farm level to research and technology development on the one side and consumer reactions on the other side, and influence not only government response but also international trade and public and private incentives for R&D.

Each contribution includes a comment, which raises questions that need further investigation. A summary...

Concern about the environmental impacts of transgenic crops is one of the major reasons for the EU s quasi-moratorium on GMOs. The contributions in this book show that the economic implications of these concerns are far-reaching and complex. They range from the farm level to research and technology development on the one side and consumer reactions on the other side, and influence not only government response but also international trade and public and private incentives for R&D.

Each contribution includes a comment, which raises questions that need further investigation. A summary...

Avian Influenza has become one of the biggest threats for human and animal health. The old paradigm was that the disease in waterfowl, poultry, pigs and man was caused by separate viruses that each stayed reasonably well within their own niche. The only danger to man was considered being infected by pigs, being the mixing vessel, where avian and human influenza viruses could come together and exchange genetic material to form new viruses that are potentially dangerous to man.

This has dramatically proven wrong during the last decade, with huge outbreaks in the USA, Europe, and Asia....

Avian Influenza has become one of the biggest threats for human and animal health. The old paradigm was that the disease in waterfowl, poultry, pigs and man was caused by separate viruses that each stayed reasonably well within their own niche. The only danger to man was considered being infected by pigs, being the mixing vessel, where avian and human influenza viruses could come together and exchange genetic material to form new viruses that are potentially dangerous to man.

This has dramatically proven wrong during the last decade, with huge outbreaks in the USA, Europe, and Asia....

Contemporary research on genetic control of disease-transmitting insects knows two kinds of scientists: those that work in the laboratory and those known as 'field people'. Over the last decade, both groups seem to have developed differing research priorities, address fundamentally different aspects within the overall discipline of infectious-disease control, and worse, have developed a scientific 'language' that is no longer understood by the 'other' party. This gap widens every day, between the North and the South, between ecologists and molecular biologists, geneticists and...

Contemporary research on genetic control of disease-transmitting insects knows two kinds of scientists: those that work in the laboratory and those known as 'field people'. Over the last decade, both groups seem to have developed differing research priorities, address fundamentally different aspects within the overall discipline of infectious-disease control, and worse, have developed a scientific 'language' that is no longer understood by the 'other' party. This gap widens every day, between the North and the South, between ecologists and molecular biologists, geneticists and...

In Western societies, the incidence and prevalence of respiratory and food-related allergies have increased rapidly over the past decades. Changes in life style, e.g. in hygiene, child vaccination, housing insulation, food consumption patterns, etc. are thought to be involved in this increase. Direct and indirect costs related to allergy are expected to rise rapidly, especially in the Central and Eastern European countries that recently joined the European Union. Major concerns relate to the significant decrease of the quality of life of patients and their relatives.

Therefore, time...

In Western societies, the incidence and prevalence of respiratory and food-related allergies have increased rapidly over the past decades. Changes in life style, e.g. in hygiene, child vaccination, housing insulation, food consumption patterns, etc. are thought to be involved in this increase. Direct and indirect costs related to allergy are expected to rise rapidly, especially in the Central and Eastern European countries that recently joined the European Union. Major concerns relate to the significant decrease of the quality of life of patients and their relatives.

Therefore, time...