On a mountainside in sunny Tuscany, in October 1989, 96 people from 23 countries on five continents gathered to learn and teach about the problems of managing contemporary science. The diversity of economic and political systems represented in the group was matched by our occupations, which stretched from science policy practitioners, through research scientists and engineers, through academic observers of science and science policy. It was this diversity, along with the opportunities for infonnal discussion provided by long meals and remote location, that made the conference a special...

Should we engineer humans to be stronger, smarter - even immortal? This is a controversial and important topic which raises fundamental ethical questions about evolution, what it is to be human and control over enhancement technologies

With ever-advancing scientific understanding and technological capabilities, humanity stands on the brink of the potential next stage of evolution: evolution engineered by us. Nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science offer the possibility to enhance human performance, lengthen life-span and reshape our inherited physical, cognitive and emotional identities. But with this promise come huge risks, complex choices and fundamental ethical questions: about evolution; about what it is to be human; and about control over, and the distribution of benefits from, new...

On a mountainside in sunny Tuscany, in October 1989, 96 people from 23 countries on five continents gathered to learn and teach about the problems of managing contemporary science. The diversity of economic and political systems represented in the group was matched by our occupations, which stretched from science policy practitioners, through research scientists and engineers, through academic observers of science and science policy. It was this diversity, along with the opportunities for infonnal discussion provided by long meals and remote location, that made the conference a special...