The National Council of Ethics for the Life Sciences (CNECV) is a consultative, independent, transdisciplinary and pluralist body, whose mission is to assess the ethical issues raised by progress in scientific knowledge and technological innovation in the field of Life Sciences.
Created in 1990, it now begins its 6th five-year mandate, recognising and paying tribute to the Council's intellectual heritage and civic intervention, but also assuming the need to enable it to respond to the needs and expectations of a dynamic and rapidly changing society.
In the last three decades, not only has Portuguese society changed significantly, becoming more diverse and plural, more demanding and participatory, but also the scientific and technological challenges have accelerated and multiplied, becoming more socially impactful.
The raison d'être of the Council, as of all institutions in a democratic regime, is to serve society, within the scope of its competences. This is also the commitment of the National Council of Ethics for the Life Sciences in its present mandate.
Maria do Céu Patrão Neves,
President of CNECV