Otherness, Cloning, and Morality in John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos (1957).

The British writer John Wyndham (1903-1969) explored societal effects of surprising or mystical events. A paradigmatic example is The Midwich Cuckoos (1957), which portrays identical-looking children born without sexual intercourse. I propose a reading strategy that focuses on the fictional spatial order and analyses how the construction of the children's otherness interferes with the village's demarcation.

Critical analysis of communication strategies in public health promotion: An empirical-ethical study on organ donation in Germany.

Given the need for organs, public organizations use social marketing strategies to increase the number of donors. Their campaigns employ a variety of moral appeals. However, their effects on audiences are unclear.

Ethical Aspects of Translating Research with Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Products into Clinical Practice: A Stakeholder Approach.

Experimental therapies with embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and, more recently, human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) are steadily gaining ground in clinical practice. The implementation of such novel high-risk/high-potential treatments calls for proper safeguards for the interests of the public and, most importantly, of research participants directly affected by the design and outcomes of trials. We argue that the active involvement of stakeholders in decision-making is ethically required.

'Saying no to organ donation': an empirical typology of reluctance and rejection.

In Germany, as well as in other countries, organ shortages are usually explained by a relative unwillingness to donate among a population which is assumed to be caused by a lack of information and mistrust of the system. As we can see in the data of our qualitative research (focus groups and interviews), lack of information or mistrust are not the only reasons for people to be reluctant to agree to the donation of their organs after death. In fact we can identify four positions: (1) information deficit; (2) mistrust; (3) no killing; and (4) bodily integrity.

Family Resemblances: Human Reproductive Cloning as an Example for Reconsidering the Mutual Relationships between Bioethics and Science Fiction.

In the traditions of narrative ethics and casuistry, stories have a well-established role. Specifically, illness narratives provide insight into patients' perspectives and histories. However, because they tend to see fiction as an aesthetic endeavour, practitioners in these traditions often do not realize that fictional stories are valuable moral sources of their own.

"Are You In or Are You Out?!" Moral Appeals to the Public in Organ Donation Poster Campaigns: A Multimodal and Ethical Analysis.

Organ transplantation is a well-established practice in modern medicine. However, many countries, especially those with an opt-in regulation, face the problem of low donation numbers. Respective public campaigns attempt to increase the number of donors by swaying public opinion with the use of carefully selected bits of information.