WORD OF THE YEAR

New year, new resolutions, new government, new …
 

Just like ‘Coral” is the colour of the year, trending in fashion and lifestyle bibles across the world, the word ‘Ethics’ will reflect the reality of this year; add it to your dictionary.

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The word is nearly 4000 years old and though it has been important and relevant throughout history, its importance in the current time needs no explanation.

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Just recently, Chinese researcher, He Jiankui sent shockwaves through the science world when he claimed to have used gene editing to modify the DNA of twin girls to make them immune to HIV. Whatever his intentions, he crossed an ethical line that research has long steered clear of. It drew attention to the glaring lack of regulation around human genome editing that relies instead on the integrity of researchers.

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From Facebook’s Camridge Analytica data breach scandal to the government’s pressure to circumvent data encryption to track fake news and Australia setting the tone for data in matters of national security, how much can we trust data and the news? The movement from fast fashion to responsible fashion and the awareness building up to action on environmental problems shows that every aspect of our life from the clothes on our back to the air we breathe is impacted by the word ‘ETHICS’. 

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So let’s highlight the word ‘Ethics’ in all our dictionaries and make it something to live by this year.