William B. Hurlbut
William B. Hurlbut is a physician and Consulting Professor in the Neuroscience Institute at Stanford, Stanford University Medical Center. Born in St. Helena, California, he grew up in Bronxville, New York. After receiving his undergraduate and medical training at Stanford, he completed postdoctoral studies in theology and medical ethics, studying with Robert Hamerton-Kelly, the Dean of the Chapel at Stanford, and subsequently with the Rev. Louis Bouyer of the Institut Catholique de Paris. In addition to teaching at Stanford, he currently serves on the President's Council on Bioethics.
His primary areas of interest involve the ethical issues associated with advancing biomedical technology, the biological basis of moral awareness, and studies in the integration of theology and philosophy of biology. His courses in biomedical ethics in the Program in Human Biology have included: Biology, Technology and Human Life, and Ethical Issues in the Neurosciences. He has also taught a course on genetics and human origins with Dr. Luca Cavalli-Sforza, director of the Human Genome Diversity Project and a course on epidemics, evolution and ethics with Dr. Baruch Blumberg who received the Nobel Prize for discovery of the Hepatitis B virus. He has worked with NASA on projects in astrobiology and since 1998 he has been a member of the Chemical and Biological Warfare working group at the Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation.
Dr. Hurlbut has come to national prominence for his advocacy of Altered Nuclear Transfer (ANT), a scientific method of obtaining pluripotent stem cells without the creation and destruction of human embryos.
External links
- Stanford Bio
- U.S. President's Council on Bioethics
- Home page of the Center for International Security and Cooperation
- One Small Island of Unity in a Sea of Controversy Q&A on altered nuclear transfer with The National Review
- On the Dangers of Radical Lifespan Extension interview with USNews
- Explanation of the theory of Altered Nuclear Transfer