(Patrizia Caiffa, Sir correspondent in Paris) – "Worrying eugenist theories are reappearing" in the world, with the risk of "dangerous ideological infiltrations, especially in the presentation of the results by the scientists and the mass media". But, "beware, because ill-conducted, ill-interpreted research can cause rifts and big mistakes, with evil effects on man": the warning to the university students of the Faculty of Social and Economic Science (Fasse) of the Catholic Institute of Paris is given by the Jesuit father Patrick Verspieren, director of the Department of Biomedical Ethics at the Sevrès Centre (Jesuit Faculty of Paris), who spoke today at the conference organised in conjunction with the ecclesial organisation "Justice and Peace" France, about "Human dignity: what reality 60 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?". The university conference, which is hosted by the Catholic Institute of Paris, aims at taking stock of the current meaning and sense of the concept of human dignity in several spheres. This morning’s session, focussed on scientific developments, drew attention to the delicate issue of the respect of human dignity, especially in the area of genetics. (continued)
