By personal invitation only. A video of the conference will be published on our website.
PROGRAMME
Bioethics in a time of global crises and scientific breakthroughs
As the Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics (Smer) celebrates its 40th anniversary, we stand at a critical juncture in human history. Four decades of dedicated work in bioethics have given Sweden valuable experience in navigating complex ethical questions. Experience that proves essential as we face today’s unprecedented challenges: revolutionary biotechnologies that redefine life itself, global health crises that test our solidarity, geopolitical instability that threatens universal human rights, and climate change that fundamentally reshapes how we think about healthcare and human flourishing.
This milestone symposium explores how bioethics must evolve to meet the ethical demands of the 21st century – a time when scientific breakthroughs collide with social upheaval and global environmental crisis. We present a smörgåsbord of speakers and content, bringing together leading voices to discuss current challenges – and how institutions like Smer can contribute to ethical clarity in turbulent times.
Today’s bioethical landscape is defined by
- Transformative advances in genetics, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and other rapidly evolving fields,
- New frontiers in human reproduction and synthetic biology,
- Growing threats to international cooperation and human rights frameworks,
- A climate crisis demanding sustainable and equitable healthcare systems, and
- An urgent need for resilient and trusted bioethics governance.
Symposium Programme – October 9, 2025
Venue: Government Offices, Drottninggatan 4, Stockholm
Time: Registration 8:30, start 9:00
09.00 – 09.20 Opening Ceremony: Four Decades of Ethical Leadership
- Welcome by Elisabet Lann, Minister for Health Care, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs
- Opening reflections by the Chair of Smer, Mr. Sven-Eric Söder
09.20–10.50 Rights Under Siege: Bioethics and human rights in an Age of Division
Chair: Kavot Zillén, Associate professor of public law at Stockholm university.
Solidarity and Trustworthiness as the building blocks of fractured healthcare systems
Caesar Alimsinya Atuire, Professor of Global Health Ethics at the University of Oxford, Co-Associate Director of Oxford Global Health, Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at the University of Ghana.
Protection of Human Rights in Biomedicine – Ethics and Law in Interaction
Elisabeth Rynning, Chair of the Swedish Institute for Human Rights, Former Chief Parliamentary Ombudsman, former Justice of the Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden, and former Professor of Medical Law.
Why we Should Experiment with Experiment
Thérèse Murphy, Professor of Law, Queen’s University Belfast
Followed by audience Q&A (30 minutes)
10.50-11.10 Coffee
11.10–12.30 Mind and Machine: The Neurotechnology’s Revolution
Revolutionary neurotechnologies offer unprecedented hope for treating brain disorders, but with therapeutic breakthroughs come complex ethical challenges.
Chair: Mikael Sandlund, Professor of Psychiatry at Umeå University.
Novel neurotechnologies for treatment-resistant brain disorders
Jens Schouenborg, Professor, Neuronano Research Center, Sweden
Comments from ongoing neuroethics projects:
- Aldo Faisal, member of German Ethics Council
- Sarah Cunningham-Burley, Chair, Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Followed by audience Q&A (20 minutes)
12.30 Exploring complete ectogenesis and in vitro gametogenesis through speculative design
Introduction to the speculative design project
Andrew Darby, Research Associate in Speculative Design, Lancaster University
12.40–14.00 Lunch Break and speculative design project
14.00–15.30 Redefining Human: Frontiers in Reproduction and Biotechnology
From embryo models, organoids, and bodyoids to in vitro gametogenesis (IVG) and genetic editing, how do we navigate the ethical implications of technologies that could fundamentally alter human reproduction and development?
Chair: Niklas Juth, Professor of Medical Ethics at Uppsala University.
What Is “Human”—as a Noun and as an Adjective
Hank Greely, Professor of Law, Stanford University
Emerging Biotechnologies and the Future of Human Reproduction: Ethical and Policy Challenges
Stephen Wilkinson, Professor of Bioethics, University of Lancaster
Altered Inheritance: The future of designer babies
Françoise Baylis, Professor of Bioethics, Dalhousie University, Canada
Followed by audience Q&A (30 minutes)
15.30–16.00 Fika / Coffee Break and speculative design project
16.00–17.00 Institutional Resilience: Strengthening Bioethics Governance
How can national and international bioethics bodies remain effective and legitimate in an era of rapid change and growing skepticism toward expertise?
Chair: Sven-Eric Söder, chair of The Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics.
Panel discussion with brief interventions (5 minutes each):
- Sarah Cunningham-Burley, Chair, Nuffield Council on Bioethics
- Maria do Céu Patrão Neves, Vice-Chair, European Group on Ethics (EGE); President, Portuguese NEC
- Helmut Frister, Chair, German Ethics Council
- Christa Lundgaard Kjøller, Director, Centre for Ethics, Denmark
- Katherine Littler, co-lead of the Global Health Ethics & Governance Unit at WHO
- Laurence Lwoff is Head of the Human Rights and Biomedicine Division and Secretary of the Steering Committee for Human Rights in Biomedicine and Health (CDBIO) at the Council of Europe
Moderated discussion (25 minutes)
17.00 Closing Reflections