New ELSA homepage on CORDIS
A new World Wide Web homepage covering the Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects of the Life Sciences and Technologies (ELSA) has recently been launched on the CORDIS server. ELSA is a common research sub-area for three specific programmes managed by the European Commission, DG XII, in the fields of Biomedicine and Health (BIOMED), Biotechnology (BIOTECH) and Agriculture and Fisheries (FAIR). ELSA is aimed at analysing the ethical and social issues raised by specific applications of biotechnology and biomedicine so that these considerations are taken into account in public policy deliberations. This ELSA approach will be extended to all RTD programmes under the Fifth RTD Framework Programme (1998-2002), and in particular to the first thematic programme "Improving the quality of life and management of living resources". Information on the new homepage includes an introduction to the aims and objectives of ELSA and the historical background to bioethics research under previous Framework Programmes. Links are provided to the homepages of the FAIR, BIOMED, and BIOTECH programmes and to ELSA projects carried out within the framework of these programmes, as well as to relevant information on the EUROPA server. Other pages are devoted to events and news, publications and contact details of those involved in ELSA.