Staff profile

David is a bioethicist by background researching ethical, legal, and policy implications of emerging biotechnologies, including neurotechnologies, implantable devices, and human enhancement. He has other research interests in bioethics and the medical law more generally, with a current project focussing on the creation of new lifeforms through synthetic biology. He is an editor for the journals Clinical Neuroethics and Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics.

Chapter in book

• All Too Human: Moral Status in the Wasteland
  
  Lawrence, D. R. (in press). All Too Human: Moral Status in the Wasteland. In Fallout and Philosophy. Blackwell.
• Reluctant Nihilism in 90s Grunge
  
  Tigard, D., & Lawrence, D. R. (in press). Reluctant Nihilism in 90s Grunge. In 90s Alternative and Philosophy: A Bittersweet Anthology. McFarland & Company.
• Newer technologies, older attitudes, and retrograde regulation
  
  Lawrence, D. R., & Harris, J. (2022). Newer technologies, older attitudes, and retrograde regulation. In Novel Beings: Regulatory Approaches for a Future of New Intelligent Life (pp. 123-137). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800889262.00012
• Repugnance, denial, and fear: societal challenges for regulation of novel beings
  
  Lawrence, D. R. (2022). Repugnance, denial, and fear: societal challenges for regulation of novel beings. In D. Lawrence & S. Morley (Eds.), Novel Beings: Regulatory Approaches for a Future of New Intelligent Life (pp. 29-45). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800889262.00009
• Monkeys, Moral Machines, and Persons
  
  Lawrence, D. R., & Harris, J. (2021). Monkeys, Moral Machines, and Persons. In Rethinking Moral Status (pp. 290-305). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192894076.003.0017

Edited book

• Novel Beings: Regulatory Approaches for a Future of New Intelligent Life
  
  Lawrence, D., & Morley, S. (Eds.). (2022). Novel Beings: Regulatory Approaches for a Future of New Intelligent Life. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800889262

Journal Article

• Operationalising Moral Status: Approaching a Pragmatic Spectrum
  
  Lawrence, D. R. (in press). Operationalising Moral Status: Approaching a Pragmatic Spectrum. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics.
• Bioethics Transformed: 40 Years of The Value of Life
  
  Lawrence, D. (2025). Bioethics Transformed: 40 Years of The Value of Life. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 34(2), 144-155. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0963180124000549
• Ethical, legal and social aspects of human cerebral organoids and their governance in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States
  
  Pichl, A., Ranisch, R., Altinok, O. A., Antonakaki, M., Barnhart, A. J., Bassil, K., Boyd, J. L., Chinaia, A. A., Diner, S., Gaillard, M., Greely, H. T., Jowitt, J., Kreitmair, K., Lawrence, D., Lee, T. N., McKeown, A., Sachdev, V., Schicktanz, S., Sugarman, J., … Árnason, G. (2023). Ethical, legal and social aspects of human cerebral organoids and their governance in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 11, Article 1194706. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2023.1194706
• Neurolaw—A Call to Action
  
  Lawrence, D. R. (2022). Neurolaw—A Call to Action. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 31(4), 415-417. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0963180122000123
• Does a Mind Need a Body?
  
  McKeown, A., & Lawrence, D. R. (2021). Does a Mind Need a Body? Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 30(4), 563-574. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0963180121000049
• Novel Beings: Moral Status and Regulation
  
  Lawrence, D., & Morley, S. (2021). Novel Beings: Moral Status and Regulation. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 30(3), 415-419. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0963180120000961
• Regulating the Tyrell Corporation: the Emergence of Novel Beings
  
  Lawrence, D. R., & Morley, S. (2021). Regulating the Tyrell Corporation: the Emergence of Novel Beings. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 30(3), 421-434. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0963180120000973

Report

• Governance Of Neural Organoids - Comparative Mapping In US, Germany, UK
  
  Lawrence, D. R. (in press). Governance Of Neural Organoids - Comparative Mapping In US, Germany, UK. Nuffield Council on Bioethics.