what we do

The Institute on Biotechnology & the Human Future offers assessments of the scientific benefits and risks of new developments in biotechnology, while at the same time analyzing their cultural and ethical significance. The Institute couples continuing academic and policy research with the ability to provide advice and analysis to businesses, professional organizations, consumer groups, and policymakers. It is able to draw on the resources of many scholars and opinion leaders through its wide network of fellows and links to many other organizations.

The Institute serves as a place where leading individuals from a wide range of cultural and political persuasions can work together and exchange understandings about recent developments in genetic and reproductive technology; to move toward a greater understanding of shared goals; and to develop joint efforts to examine and assess developments in biotechnology in terms of risks, benefits, impacts on cultural values, challenges for cultural institutions, and potential contribution to human flourishing.

who we are

Over the past three years, President Nigel Cameron and IBHF Co-founder Lori Andrews have brought together stakeholders from diverse sectors of society to discuss and analyze biotechnologies. They found that many people with opposing positions on abortion and other social and cultural questions find themselves aligned when it comes to issues such as human cloning, genetic enhancements and gene patents. They discovered that conscientious individuals who in conventional political terms might be considered far from each other - on the "right" and "left" wings of the spectrum - in fact look at issues of technology and human values in very similar ways.

The Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future is affiliated with Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and is housed at IIT's Chicago-Kent College of Law. IIT, a leader in technology development, has the resources necessary to assess proposed biotechnologies, including scientists, social scientists, philosophers and legal scholars on faculty who can serve as advisors and consultants. The Institute draws upon diverse scholars, internationally and nationally, to aid in its work. The Institute's network of fellows represents very diverse constituencies. Most IBHF Fellows are in academic posts. Some are policy experts. Others are in leadership roles in other national organizations. Some are politically conservative, some politically progressive. Some are secular, some conservative in their religious convictions, some more liberal. Between them, they represent many networks from across the political and religious spectrum. But they have this in common: a determination to ensure that developments in biotechnology sustain, and do not subvert, crucial social values.

The IBHF staff and interns have expertise in several different areas including law, technology and public health.

Nigel Cameron, President
Michele Mekel, Executive Director/Legal Fellow
Dawn Willow, Legal Fellow
Joseph Oldaker, Administrative Associate

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ibhf annual reports

The Institute on Biotechnology and the Human Future lists their Annual Reports available below. Reports are in Adobe Acrobat PDF formats.

2005-06 Annual Report
2004-05 Annual Report