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Students tackle tricky topics in 2WAYS project

Youngsters across Europe have been grappling with some of the life sciences' trickiest ethical dilemmas thanks to the EU-funded 2WAYS ('Two ways for communicating European research about life sciences with science festivals and science centres/museums, science parliaments impa...

Youngsters across Europe have been grappling with some of the life sciences' trickiest ethical dilemmas thanks to the EU-funded 2WAYS ('Two ways for communicating European research about life sciences with science festivals and science centres/museums, science parliaments impact survey') project. 2WAYS received almost EUR 1 million from the Science in Society programme of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Over the past two years, the 2WAYS team has organised 29 'science parliaments' in 29 cities in 17 countries. Each event lasted up to 2 days and attracted between 50 and 100 students aged from 17 to 19. So how did these events work? 'All these science parliaments had four committees,' explains project coordinator Peter Rebernik of the European Science Events Association (EUSCEA) in Austria. 'These committees were like in a normal parliament - they invited experts, discussed their issues and voted on resolutions. These resolutions came to the plenary session and the plenary session then finalised these resolutions.' In early December, delegates from each national science parliament gathered at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, for the first-ever young European Science Parliament. There, the adopted resolutions were handed over to European Parliament Vice-President and German Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Silvana Koch-Mehrin, who is also involved in the European Parliament's Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA). The resolutions summarise the youngsters' thinking on four major issues in the life sciences: the use of embryonic stem cells, the use of the results of genetic tests, the implications of the discovery of a gene for aggressiveness, and the threats and opportunities of DNA analysis. On stem cells, most parliaments came out in favour of using stem cells derived from in vitro fertilisation (IVF), albeit with certain restrictions. Meanwhile, youngsters also want more research on adult stem cells to replace embryonic stem cells and do away with the need to destroy embryos. The discussions, which forced the students to debate when human life begins, were often lively. 'There was a nice discussion in the European Parliament when one committee said, "these 50 cells in the beginning, it's not really a human life, you can do anything with them",' recalls Dr Rebernik. 'Then somebody else stood up and said: "Hey, this is human life already, you can't do anything".' Today, genetic tests exist to determine an individual's risk of developing over 500 diseases. Most youngsters recognised that these tests could ultimately prove useful as part of efforts to prevent and treat diseases, but expressed concern that if the results are not fully confidential, they could be abused by insurance companies and employers. The resolutions also express concern regarding the psychological impacts of knowing that one faces a greater risk of a potentially deadly disease. The discussions on the so-called 'aggressiveness gene', which lowers an individual's threshold for violence, were also interesting. Most resolutions recognise that an individual's personality is a combination of both genes and the environment. Many note that individuals with this gene could face discrimination. Others fear that the gene could be used as an excuse by criminals seeking a lower sentence. However, others suggest that it could be used not to reduce the level of punishment but to tailor rehabilitation efforts. An impact study of the parliaments revealed that the youngsters learnt a lot from their experience and that they felt more encouraged to ask questions and engage in discussions. The 2WAYS project is now drawing to a close. However, many of the cities involved plan to organise further science parliaments themselves. Furthermore, Dr Rebernik reports that he hopes to have a young European science parliament at the European Parliament every two years. 'It looks like we can do this,' he tells CORDIS News.

Countries

Austria, Belgium