On Neuroethics

doi:10.1126/science.1150557

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Editorial

On Neuroethics

Henry Greely

Human society is the society of human brains. Of course those brains are encased in, affected by, and dependent on the rest of the body, but our most important interactions are with other people's brains, as manifested through their bodies. On 3 November 2007, the Society for Neuroscience begins its 37th annual meeting. Since 1970, the event has grown into one of the world's largest scientific meetings, drawing more than 30,000 scientists to discuss brains. This surge in attendance comes from an explosion in knowledge: We know almost infinitely more than we did 37 years ago, even though we still understand little.

Henry Greely is the Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law at Stanford University, Stanford, CA. He has long worked on legal and ethical issues in the biosciences. E-mail: hgreely{at}stanford.edu

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