Françoise Baylis

Bio

Françoise Baylis is a philosopher whose innovative work in bioethics, at the intersection of policy and practice, has stretched the very boundaries of the field.  Her work challenges readers to think broadly and deeply about the direction of health, science and biotechnology. It aims to move the limits of mainstream bioethics and develop more effective ways to understand and tackle public policy challenges in Canada and abroad.

A public intellectual for the modern age, Baylis brings her ethical sensibilities, informed by best practices, theory and common sense, to a wide range of public issues. She is a frequent guest on CBC and Radio Canada and the author of many news stories with a “behind the scenes” look at ethical issues. Her current research focuses on heritable human genome modification, the body economy, assisted human reproduction, and research involving women. With a personal mantra to make the powerful care, Baylis contributes to national policy-making via government research contracts, membership on national committees and public education. This work – all of which is informed by a strong commitment to the common good – focuses largely on issues of social justice.

Françoise Baylis is University Research Professor, NTE Impact Ethics, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University. She is a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Nova Scotia, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. In 2017 she was awarded the Canadian Bioethics Society Lifetime Achievement Award.

Andorno, R., Baylis, F., Darnovsky, M., Dickenson, D., Haker, H., Hasson, K. (2020). Geneva
statement on heritable human genome editing: The need for course correction. Trends in Biotechnology, 38(4), 351-354.

Baylis, F. (2019). Altered inheritance: CRISPR and the ethics of human genome editing. Harvard: Harvard University Press.

Saha, K., Hurlbut, J.B., Jasanoff, S., Ahmed, A., Appiah, A., Bartholet, E., Baylis, F. et al. (2018). Building capacity for a global genome-editing observatory: Institutional design. Trends in
Biotechnology. 36(8), 741-743. DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2018.04.008.

Hurlbut, J.B., Jasanoff, S., Saha, K., Ahmed, A., Appiah, A., Bartholet, E., Baylis, F. et al. (2018). Building capacity for a global genome-editing observatory: Conceptual challenges. Trends in Biotechnology. 36(7), 639-641. DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2018.04.009

Baylis, F. (2018). ‘No’ to lesbian motherhood using human nuclear genome transfer. Journal of Medical Ethics. 44(12), 865-867. DOI:10.1136/medethics-2018-104860

Baylis, F. (2018). COUNTERPOINT: The potential harms of human gene editing using CRISPRCas9. Clinical Chemistry. 64(3), 489-491. DOI: 10.1373/clinchem.2017.278317

Baylis, F., & Cattapan A. (2018). Personalised medicine and the politics of human nuclear genome transfer. In: B. van Beers, S. Sterckx, & D. Dickenson (Eds), Personalized medicine, individual choice and the common good, (17-36). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI:10.1017/9781108590600.002

Baylis, F., & McLeod, M. (2018). First-in-human phase 1 CRISPR gene editing cancer trials: Are we ready? Current Gene Therapy 17(4), 309-319. DOI: 10.2174/1566523217666171121165935.

Baylis, F. (2017). 'Broad societal consensus' on human germline editing. Harvard Health Policy Review, 15(2), 19-23.

Baylis, F. (2017). Human germline genome editing and broad societal consensus. Nature Human Behaviour, 1, 0103.

Baylis, F. (2017). Human nuclear genome transfer (so-called Mitochondrial replacement): clearing the underbrush. Bioethics, 31(1), 7-19.

Baylis, F. (2017). The regulation of assisted human reproductive technologies and related research: a public health, safety and morality argument. In T.Lemmens, A. F. Martin, C. Milne, & I. B. Lee (Eds.), Regulating Creation: The Law, Ethics and Policy of Assisted Human Reproduction (pp. 490-528). Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.

Vasiliou, S. K., Diamandis, E. P., Church, G. M., Greely, H. T., Baylis, F., Thompson, C. et al. (2016). CRISPR-Cas9 system: opportunities and concerns. Clinical Chemistry, 62(10), 1304.

Baylis, F. (2016). Mitochondrial replacement techniques: ethical, social and policy considerations. Royal Society of Canada Reports from Abroad [On-line].

Baylis, F. & Rossant, J. (2016). This CRISPR moment: editing human DNA the way we edit test – are we ready? The Walrus Magazine, April, 15-17.