BIOETHICS

Ethical issues in biotechnology : definition of bioethics

need of bioethics and its relation with other
branches, application of bioethics and and socioeconomic
impacts of biotechnology, public education
of the process of biotechnology involved in generating
new forms of life for informed decision making
ethical concerns of biotechnology research and
innovation, bioethics in health care, bioethics in
biodiversity and resource management, ethical issues in
human cloning reproduction and stem cells
research
BTY297
 INTRODUCTION TO BIOETHICS

v Mager states amount of information stored in biology doubles every

three and half year

vCorn, rice and wheat forms 60% of the human food supply

vLoss of biodiversity will diminish the capacity of ecosystem to provide

sustainable use of goods and services.

vBiothics solves the problem of student lives, while explaining the

priorities which effect the long term survival and sustainability for our

planet earth
 What is “ethics”?

– Ethics: “the rules of

conduct recognized in
respect to a particular class
of human actions or a
particular group, culture”
 What is “Bioethics”?

– Bioethics by Van potter: “ biology

combined with diverse
humanistic knowledge that sets a
system of medical and
environmental priorities for
acceptable survival.

– BOOK- GLOBAL BIOETHICS

 NEED OF BIOETHICS

Moral activities essential for scientific skills or research at this level are
very essential

Today realization is the critical thinking skills of ethical issues.

Biothics solves the problem of student lives, while explaining the

priorities which effect the long term survival and sustainability for our

planet earth

TRUE

FALSE
 A classic bioethical decision

• One heart available  who should get it?

40-year-old 70-year-old
17-year old girl woman
school principal
 OTHER DEFINITION

ENCYCLOPEDIA of bioethics defines as broad terrain of the moral

Problems of life sciences ordinarily taken to encompasses medicine,
Biology, and some important aspects of environmental population and
Social sciences

The study of ethical issues raised by development in life sciemnces

Technology.

Bioethics is the ethics of biological science and medicine

Branch of ethics that studies moral values in the biomedical and

biological sciences
 Basic Bioethics Principles
• RESPECT for people’s rights
– Autonomy
– Dignity

• BENEFICENCE: Benefits must be proportionate

to risks
– Potential harm = potential good
 Basic Bioethics Principles
• JUSTICE: The even distribution of benefits and
risks throughout society

• NONMALEFICENCE: Do no harm
– Experiment must stop if causes harm.
 Bioethics and its relation to other branches

vThe view of bioethics is very useful in promoting critical thinking at many levels.

vIt allows for greater accessibility to the content through connectivity rather than

stand alone units.

vBioethics obtains its requirement from different branches of science like biology,

Genetics, philosophy, social sciences etc.

vBioethicist are involved at every level, in local committee at universities and national

board and industry is setting up bioethics boards.

BIOETHICS REQUIREMENT FROM DIFFERENT BRANCHES
SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY

Moral Biology
Social sciences sciences

Law Medicine
BIOETHICS

Biostatistics Genetics

Philosophy
 APPLICATION OF BIOETHICS

They find application in value rich issues like:

1. Research using various organisms
2. Environmental degradation
3. Environmental pollution
4. Organ transplantation
5. Xenotransplantation
6. Cloning
7. Stem cells
8. Genomic studies
9. Transgenic organisms
 Bioethics opportunities

vCreates awareness in student and teachers of the role of science

vProblem solving abilities are in response to human needs

vStudent learn how to use scientific knowledge and skills in personal

vIt provides opportunities for meaningful cooperative work

Decision-making organizations
– Internal Review Boards (IRB’s)

– President’s Council on Bioethics

• 2001

– Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee:

• Part of California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
(CIRM)
 Some recent stem cell policy…

• President Bush:
–August 2001:
• moral risks > potential benefits
Let’s start tackling some current ethical
issues in stem cell research!
• What we’re discussing next:

– Use of leftover embryos from IVF clinics for

embryonic stem cell research
 When stakeholders collide: Current IVF
embryo policy

• What is an IVF clinic?

– Place where a couple can go after
difficulty conceiving a child
– Woman’s eggs extracted; man
contributes sperm
– Woman’s egg fertilized in-vitro
• Outside her body
• Embryos inserted into her uterus 
pregnancy
When stakeholders collide: Current IVF
embryo policy
• Left-over embryos
– IVF procedure generates many embryos to
increase chances of success
– Usually get thrown out or frozen
– BUT, stem cells can be derived from these!
 When stakeholders collide: Current IVF
embryo policy

• Which is ethically “better”?

• Throwing out an extra embryo, OR
• Saving the embryo for adoption, OR
• Using the embryo for biomedical research?

• How do we find a compromise?

 The use of IVF embryos is not the only issue stem
cell research is currently facing!

• Some of the other questions policy-makers must tackle

in the coming years:

– How do we decide which diseases to do research on?

– How do we make sure that all citizens receive equal access to

the treatments, given that the research is funded with
government (public) money?
 Proposition 71
• The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine

• What CIRM does:

– Decides what research institutions get public money for
stem cell research

– Research must have the goal of curing or improving major

diseases, injuries, and “orphan diseases”
• Example: Tay-Sachs Disease
 What diseases do we do stem cell
research on first?
Muscular dystrophy
likely to die by age 20

VS.

Spinal cord injuries

paralyzed, but likely to live longer
 What diseases do we do stem cell
research on first?
• Independent Citizen’s Oversight Committee (ICOC) includes:

– Spinal cord injuries about 35,000 cases in CA

– Alzheimer’s disease about 470,000 cases in CA
– Type II (adult) diabetes 10% of adults (20 and up) have it
– Multiple sclerosis in NorCal, 150 in 100,000 people have it
– Type I (juvenile) diabetes 1 in every 400-600 children/adolescents
– Heart disease #1 cause of death in US (12% of adults)
– Cancer #2 cause of death in US (7.4% of adults)
– Parkinson’s disease about 500,000 cases in US
– Mental illness 22% of Americans have mental disorders
– HIV/AIDS about 1 million cases of HIV in US
 Common concerns in funding decisions

• Number of people with the disease.

• The groups that suffer from the disease.

• Severity of the disease.

• Disease mortality.

• Average age at death.

• Already available therapies or treatments.

 Activity: What diseases should we do
research on?
• Divide into small groups
• Discuss the following, referring to the bioethics
principles that we discussed yesterday and earlier:
– Which concerns are most important?
– Prioritize them, 1 through 6. COMPROMISE!
– Some bonus questions:
• Look back at the list of disease groups on the ICOC. Do the
diseases on the list meet your criteria? Are there any diseases you
think should be added to or removed from the list?
• Are there any other criteria you think should be considered?
 For activity: ICOC diseases and
bonus activity questions
• Spinal cord injuries about 35,000 cases in CA
• Alzheimer’s disease about 470,000 cases in CA
• Type II (adult) diabetes 10% of adults (20 and up) have it
• Multiple sclerosis in NorCal, 150 in 100,000 people have it
• Type I (juvenile) diabetes 1 in every 400-600 children/adolescents
• Heart disease #1 cause of death in US (12% of adults)
• Cancer #2 cause of death in US (7.4% of adults)
• Parkinson’s disease about 500,000 cases in US
• Mental illness 22% of Americans have mental disorders
• HIV/AIDS about 1 million cases of HIV in US

• Look back at the list of disease groups on the ICOC. Do the diseases on the
list meet your criteria? Are there any diseases you think should be added
to or removed from the list?
• Are there any other criteria you think should be considered?
Thank you!