A new German online game, gen.ethix, asks players to make decisions about the future of biotechnology.

All the ethical questions raised by the game are reality based. What do I do if the insurance company tries to recruit me for a promising pilot project — but in exchange wants to store my complete DNA sequence in its database? Can a medicine against Parkinson’s Disease be used in good conscience when it was developed using embryo stem cells?

While players have to find their own answers, information background data, interviews of experts in the fields of research, politics, religion and ethics, covering all positions on the ethical spectrum, are provided to help the player decide.

All of the decisions and commentaries made by players are anonymously saved into an accessible memo bank. Some of the results have surprised even the scientists.

“The majority of people are much more open to biomedicine and new therapies than I would have thought,” said bioethicist Ali Ben Salem.

So far three cases are presented: genetic testing; genetic information and privacy; the use of human embryonic stem cells to make drugs.

Via Deutsche Welle.