Extended Life, Eternal Life.

• Position: Biotechnology conference - Brief Article

On March 5 and 6, the John Templeton Foundation and the University of Pennsylvania hosted a conference called "Extended Life, Eternal Life," with participants discussing the ethical and theological implications of our increasing ability to extend and enrich our lives through biotechnology. As might be expected, tempers flared, with anti-biotech speakers such as The Hastings Center's Daniel Callahan declaring, "The worst possible way to resolve [the question of life extension] is to leave it up to individual choice.[ldots]There is no known social good coming from the conquest of death." Gregory Stock, director of UCLA's Program on Medicine, Technology, and Society, begged to differ, suggesting, "We are not moving toward a cataclysmic reckoning. Instead, I offer you the image...