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Contact Details

Phone
64 3 479 7365
Email
gareth.jones@otago.ac.nz
Position
Emeritus Professor
Department
Department of Anatomy
Qualifications
CNZM Bsc(Hons) MB BS(Lond) DSc(W Aust) MD(Otago) FRSB FAS
Research summary
Research uses of human tissue – ethical analyses

Research

Research interests include human anatomy and ethics, including uses of human cadavers and tissues; neuroethics, including neuroimaging and dementia; stem cell technology, including induced pluripotent stem cells; artificial reproductive technologies, including developmental issues; enhancement and therapy; bioethics and theology.

Professor Jones has had a long involvement in anatomy. Until recent times little attention was given to any ethical dimensions surrounding the acquisition of bodies, such as the use of unclaimed bodies and bodies of the mentally ill. More recently there has been intense interest in retention of body parts, and this raises tensions between issues of informed consent and the availability of material for research. The extensive use of plastinated human material in teaching and research also raises difficult ethical questions, especially in terms of large public exhibitions of plastinated cadavers. Other questions of interest concern definitions of brain death and the status of the human embryo, the moral status of the blastocyst. Questions such as these can only be addressed by reference to the human body, in embryological, neurobiological and cell biological terms.

Publications

Jones, D. G. (2025). The rise of informed consent and retreat from dependence upon unclaimed bodies in anatomy: An overview and assessment. Anatomical Sciences Education. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1002/ase.70171 Journal - Research Other

Jones, G. (2025). Playing God or healing pain? The IVF journey behind Joy. Melbourne Anglican, (20 July). Retrieved from https://tma.melbourneanglican.org.au/2025/07/playing-god-or-healing-pain-the-ivf-journey-behind-joy/ Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles

Jones, G. (2025). Universities are in turbulent times. Otago Daily Times, (15 July). Retrieved from https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/universities-are-turbulent-times Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles

Jones, G. (2025). Ethical approaches to the dead now a welcome, central ethos. Otago Daily Times, (6 January). Retrieved from https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/ethical-approaches-dead-now-welcome-central-ethos Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles

Southorn, M., Halcrow, S. E., Lončar, S. R., Sudron, E. L., Smith, C., & Jones, D. G. (2024). Forgotten children: The fetal and infant skeletal remains of the W. D. Trotter Anatomy Museum, New Zealand. Bioarchaeology International, 8(3-4), 182-215. doi: 10.5744/bi.2023.0004 Journal - Research Article

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