New developments

For every live and loud controversy, there are always a few going on in the background, quietly changing the way the world works. Here are some updates on recent developments in privacy and bioethics.

RealID is causing all sorts of problems, running up against the First Amendment when it comes to people who can't have their image placed on an ID card because it violates their reading of the Bible or Qu'ran. The last time this issue came before SCOTUS, the justices felt that, on balance, the privacy / religious interest was sufficient to counter the government's public policy interest -- this time around, it seems likely that the court might rule the other way.

In the U.K., scientists have just created an embryo with three people's DNA. Likely to create all sorts of new ways for gays and transsexuals to reproduce via their own DNA, as well as providing many uses for hetero in vitro fertilization. Also potentially feasible to create all sorts of new reproductive relationships, dealing an awkward blow to the "it's wrong because they can't reproduce" argument (presumably, the argument will simply morph into "they're doing it wrong").