Assisted Reproduction and Judaism

Miryam Z. Wahrman is Professor of Biology, Director of General Education, and Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at William Paterson University of New Jersey where she has also served as Chair of the Department of Biology and Chair of the Faculty Senate.

Wahrman's book,Brave New Judaism: When Science and Scripture Collide, (University Press of New England/Brandeis University Press, 2002; paperback edition, 2004), has received many accolades, including a starred review (awarded for book of outstanding quality) from Publishers Weekly. Wahrman is also an award-winning journalist, as Science correspondent for the New Jersey Jewish Standard and Jewish Community News.

Professor Wahrman has published in the areas of reproductive biology, cancer, genetic engineering, and biotechnology and is co-author of a laboratory manual that has been reprinted in five editions. She has lectured widely and has presented papers at conferences such as the American Association for Advancement of Science, International Congress of Cell Biology, American Association for Cancer Research, International Conference on Differentiation, Conference of the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, Association of Orthodox Jewish Scientists and International Conferences on Torah and Science.

After graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Hunter College, Wahrman completed a Ph.D. in biochemistry at Cornell University. She worked as Associate Researcher at Sloan-Kettering Institute; Postdoctoral Associate at Cornell University; Guest Investigator at Rockefeller University; and Instructor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. At Mount Sinai, Wahrman was a member of the In Vitro Fertilization team that produced the first test-tube baby in New York State. She has published over a hundred forty articles on topics in science and health for the Jewish press throughout North America and Germany, including dozens of articles on the interface of genetics and medical ethics with Jewish law.