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̽»¨Ö±²¥lecture, exploring ethics and genetic research, will be given by Baroness Onora O’Neill, Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge, prominent political philosopher and crossbench Peer in the House of Lords. It is entitled ‘From Nuremberg to Helsinki, 2002: rising or declining standards for research on human subjects?’

Onora O'Neill has written widely on political philosophy and ethics, international justice, bioethics and the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. She has written on hunger, poverty, development, children's rights, and more generally on justice and ethics.

It is this determination to apply such universalist thinking to the new dilemmas of the 21st century that marks out her work.

Several of these dilemmas lie in the field of bioethics. As past chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics and the Human Genetics Advisory Commission, she has been at the centre of some challenging controversies, such as DNA testing, genetic databases, reproductive choice, 'designer babies' and cloning.

Onora O'Neill is also on the board of trustees of Sense About Science, a charitable trust founded to promote an evidence-based approach to scientific issues in the public domain. ̽»¨Ö±²¥trust works to encourage this approach, particularly in areas of controversy, of which the debates surrounding genetics, hormones and vaccines are current examples.

Her series of Reith lectures, 'A Question of Trust', raised another modern dilemma. ̽»¨Ö±²¥modern emphasis on individual rights can lead to a vicious spiral of reducing trust in medicine, science and biotechnology.

̽»¨Ö±²¥lecture takes place at 6.30pm on Wednesday 8 June at Robinson College. Entry is free to all but you are required to register by 6pm for a place. ̽»¨Ö±²¥lecture will be followed by wine and a buffet supper.

̽»¨Ö±²¥Cambridge Genetics Knowledge Park (CGKP) is one of six in England and Wales, funded by the Genetics Knowledge Challenge Fund established by the Department of Health and the Department of Trade and Industry. One of its principal aims is to create and support a network of individuals and organisations in and around Cambridge with active interests in human genetics by fostering collaboration between academics in the sciences and humanities, public health professionals, clinicians and the commercial sector.

̽»¨Ö±²¥Cambridge Network aims to create and support a community of like-minded people from business and academia in the Cambridge region and link this community to the global high-tech network for the benefit of the Cambridge region.