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Durham Centre for Ethics and Law in the Life Sciences Blog

The CELLS Blog offers a multidisciplinary platform for commentary and analysis on a range of subjects and themes related to the ethical, social and regulatory issues raised by the life sciences. We welcome submissions from students, early career researchers, policymakers, academics from all relevant fields, lawyers, healthcare professionals and support services, civil society organisations and anyone with a vested interest in the relevant subject area broadly construed.

To submit a blog post for consideration please note the following guidelines:

  • Word limit: 500-750 words.
  • Please provide three to four keywords and an appropriate image with your post if possible.
  • The title should be short and precise.
  • Contributions should be written in English and in accessible language that will appeal to readers from different fields of study.
  • References should be in the form of embedded hyperlinks in-text. Do not use footnotes or endnotes.
  • The blog is aimed at a multidisciplinary readership at all learning levels and contributions should be widely accessible. Technical language and jargon should be explained or otherwise avoided.
  • Posts should reflect original work, but we welcome contributions that aim to promote published research papers, ongoing projects and reflective reviews of lectures and events.
  • Blogs will not be peer-reviewed but will be reviewed by the editorial staff for relevance, originality, timeliness, topic, style and focus.
  • Blogs under consideration elsewhere or those already published on other platforms will not be considered.

Submit draft blogs as an email attachment to Emma Cave at emma.cave@durham.ac.uk including in the subject line ‘CELLS blog submission: title of blog: author name’. Please note that during busy periods in the academic year, it may take longer to respond.

 

Latest Blogs from CELLS

Murdering a foetus by taking drugs while pregnant? The role of criminal law in regulating the behaviour of pregnant women

Murdering a foetus by taking drugs while pregnant? We need to think carefully about the role of criminal law in regulating the behaviour of pregnant women
Woman and baby

A European Gilead: Using the Courts to Curb Abortion Rights in Poland

Zoe Tongue comments on the recent ruling by Poland's Constitutional Court which will lead to a near-ban of abortion in a country which already has one of the most restrictive abortion regimes in Europe.
People handling placards and protesting in the street

Responding to Challenges in Diagnosing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Four Durham CELLS members responded to a NICE consultation on fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in September 2020. In this post we set out some of the concerns raised in our individual responses. In particular, we are concerned at the proposal to screen and record all alcohol consumption during pregnancy and record it in any forthcoming child’s medical notes, without any mention that the pregnant person should give informed consent.
A composition of whisky bottles