Darryl Macer, Ph.D.
Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba Science City 305-8572, Japan
Email: asianbioethics@yahoo.co.nz
Fax: Int+81-298-53-6614
Eubios Journal of Asian and International Bioethics 9 (1999), 33.

Despite the comment that love is not academic (which is also why this paper will not be published in the IAB4 congress issue of Bioethics), the richness of the papers challenges the traditional assumptions that bioethics (see Veatch), that love is not universal and that it is not academic. I welcome comments from the readers to continue this debate, and I can think of no better topic for this anniversary issue of Eubios! For those readers who want to continue the debate

Following the papers on love of life there are papers by Pollard, and Mollov & Barhoum, on the issue of war and peace. Frank Leavitt writes a rather critical commentary, which I hope will stir debate. I participated in some of the Israeli-Palestinian student debates since 1995, sometimes bringing other Japanese participants to join in a debate that represents a test case for bioethics as love of life. Also I may argue it is the proof for it! At the end is a paper on bioregionalism by Richard Evanoff.

The paper on bioethics education the result of work of Minakshi and myself for Eubios Ethics Institute, looking at textbooks in India, compared to NZ and Japan. We hope these papers encourage the cross-cultural consideration of bioethics as practical ethics, and we welcome your comments. Please also see on-line additions of All India Bioethics Association, TRT4/FAB2 and IAB4 abstracts, and my recent book!

Because the last news update was written only one month ago, and due to space limitations, the News section will be included together with the next issue, in late April. Apologies to readers, but we will endeavour to publish the May issue earlier.

The big events in Japan have been the first heart transplant from a brain dead donor since 1968, that occurred at the beginning of March. It was the first one approved under the organ transplant law of 1997. The donor had a donor card and family agreed with her wishes. It is perhaps timely that this event occured to be reported in this special issue of EJAIB on love. The media spectacle made many aware of the transplant, but also invaded the privacy of the family of the deceased. The hospital announced brain death before they finished confirming the diagnosis of clinical brain death, so the media waited for 2 days outside the hospital. The heart went to the correctly assigned recipient, after doctors checked the system and found the person second in the list had been told first! Such mistakes on national media displayed the system of checks, but also how mistakes may occur.