Throughout history, advances in science and medicine have raised challenging questions about ethics, ranging from how to safeguard human beings taking part in scientific experiments to how society can reap the benefits of technological change while, at the same time, protecting the environment. These and other issues will be explored in a day-long symposium titled "Scientific Innovations of the 20th Century: Ethical Implications for the 21st Century," to be held Friday, Feb. 19.

The symposium, sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Bioethics Committee at Yale, will feature talks by guest speakers and Yale faculty members, and will include audience discussion. All events will take place in the Whitney Humanities Center, 53 Wall St.

"Bioethics has long been an area of strength at Yale," says Donald Green, professor of political science and director of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS), who is organizing the symposium. "Distinguished scholars abound in the Schools of Law, Medicine, Forestry and Divinity, as well as in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. During the past year, ISPS has launched an interdisciplinary teaching and research initiative designed to bring together those with interests related to scientific ethics, medical ethics and environmental ethics. The upcoming symposium provides an opportunity for us to bring together people from around the University and to showcase the talent that Yale has accumulated in this area."

The morning session will feature two guest speakers. They are David J. Rothman, the Bernard Schoenberg Professor of Social Medicine and director of the Center for the Study of Society and Medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Albert Jonsen, professor of ethics in medicine and chair of the department of medical history and ethics at the University of Washington in Seattle. The session will be moderated by Arthur Galston, the Eaton Professor Emeritus of Botany and senior research scientist in molecular, cellular and developmental biology.

David J. Rothman. Rothman's talk, at 9:45 a.m., will be on the topic "Making Hard Choices in American Medicine: Why the Past May Teach the Future." He will explore how earlier generations confronted dilemmas over new medical interventions such as the iron lung and hormonal preparations, and how earlier traditions affected current practices and decision making. He will also discuss what the tensions between medical ethics and bioethics may reveal about decision making in the 21st century. Rothman is also a codirector of the National Institutes of Health's Genome Project and Technologies of Enhancement.

Albert Jonsen. At 10:45 a.m., Jonsen will address the issue "Bioethics and the American Ethos -- or Do Americans Think Differently about Bioethics than Anyone Else in the World?" He explained his subject matter by saying "Bioethics is often said to have arisen from the problems created by new medical technologies, such as dialysis and transplant. The more intriguing question is what social, political and cultural circumstances contributed to the posing of those problems as moral and ethical ones." Jonsen is director of the American Society of Law and Medicine and is president of the Society for Health and Human Values.

Margaret Farley, the Stark Professor of Christian Ethics, will moderate the afternoon session, 1:30-3:30 p.m., which will feature talks by Yale faculty members Dr. Robert J. Levine, Dr. Maurice J. Mahoney and Carol M. Rose.

Dr. Robert J. Levine. Levine, professor of medicine and lecturer in pharmacology at the School of Medicine, will describe the "Evolution of Ethical Standards for Research Involving Human Subjects," about how the AIDS epidemic has changed the way medical research experiments are viewed. Levine chairs the institutional review board at Yale-New Haven Medical Center and is the founding and current editor of IRB: A Review of Human Subjects Research. He is the author of "Ethics and Regulation of Clinical Research."

Dr. Maurice J. Mahoney. Mahoney is professor of genetics, obstetrics and gynecology, and pediatrics at the medical school. He will talk on the topic "Risks Attendant to Genetic Information: What Do We Do About Them," in which he will investigate the challenges of controlling the flow and use of medical information, particularly genetic information. Mahoney, who is also trained as a lawyer, specializes in the ethical and social issues that accompany fetal and reproductive medicine and those that arise from genetic identification of patients and research subjects. He is also director of clinical affairs in the department of genetics.

Carol M. Rose, the Bradford Tweedy Professor of Law and Organization at the Law School, will discuss "Scientific Innovation and Environmental Protection: Some Ethical Considerations." She will examine why there has traditionally been greater investment in scientific innovations that serve private projects than in science aimed at protecting the environment. Rose, an expert on property law, has also written numerous articles on enviromental law, land regulation and water law, among other topics.

A discussion period will take place 3:30- 5 p.m., and will be followed by a reception.

All events are free and open to the public. Those wishing to reserve a spot for a noon-time lunch on the second-floor rotunda should call Carol Pollard at 432-6188.