BioethicsBethune Cookman University

Ethics

Prof. Rodriguez

Challenges of Bioethics

• A new area of scientific exploration• Offers great potential• Offers great challenges

• Men ought not learn to play God before they learn to be men, and after they have learned to be men they will not play God. [emphasis mine]

(Paul Ramsey)

Introduction

• Johan Gregor Mendel (1822-1884)• Father of Genetics

Introduction

• James Watson & Francis Crick • Discovery of Double Helix (DNA) 1953

Introduction

• Human Genome Project (1990-2003)• Identified 20-25,000 genes in human DNA

• http://www.nhgri.nih.gov/HGP/

Example 1: Potential & Challenge:Reproductive Technologies

• Potential:• Assist infertile

couples in having children

• Address causes of infertility

• Challenges:• Commodification of life• Legal issues/problems• Racism• Economic inequality• Abuse• Confusion family roles

(traditional family)• Ethical concerns: scarce

med. resources, selfish motives, eugenics

Example 2: Potential & Challenge:Face transplants

• Potential:• Assisting severely

injured persons• Addressing

psychological concerns

• Giving people a chance at a normal life

• Challenges:• Donor concerns• Family concerns• Legal concerns• “Yuck” factor

Example 3: Potential & Challenge:Stem Cell Research

• Importance: ‘Blank cells’ (unspecialized) Capable of dividing and renewing

themselves for long periods of time (proliferation and renewal)

Have the potential to give rise to specialized cell types (differentiation)

Stem Cell Research

Stem Cell Research

• Ethical Debate:

Normal Sexual Reproduction:

Stem Cell Research

Stem Cell Research

• Two important cells:• Pluripotent cells- cells from which any body

organ can develop• Multipotent cells- cells from which limited or

specific types of organs can develop

Stem CELL RESEARCH

Stem Cell Research

Ethical Debate:

1) Destruction of human embryos

2) Creation of chimeras (animals with human cells and organs

3) Destruction of frozen embryos not being used

Sheep-Goat Chimera

Para-Human Chimera: Artists Conception (Patricia Piccinini)

http://www.patriciapiccinini.net/

Stem Cell Research

• Ethical Guidelines:

1) Do not let chimeraic animals mate (could lead to conceiving a human being)

2) Do not allow human stem cells to become a part of animal’s brain or injected into other primates

3) Embryos should not be allowed to develop more than 14 days

Example 4: Potential & Challenge: Human Cloning

Two types of cloning:• A) Therapeutic: Cloning for medical

purposes. Cloning tissues. Allowed and legal in U.S.

• B) Reproductive: Cloning to create a duplicate human being. Condemned and illegal in the U.S.

Human Cloning

• Moral dilemma:• Cloning is asexual reproduction

Human Cloning

• Dolly the sheep (1997-2003)

Human Cloning

Human Cloning

Ethical Issues:

1) Cloning human beings

2) Playing God

3) Moral and legal status of clones

4) Abnormalities in perfecting the procedure

5) Aesthetic concerns (moral revulsion, abomination, “yuck factor”)

Example 5: Potential & Challenge:Genetic Engineering

Benefits:• Address genetic abnormalities• Cure diseases• Tailor medicine and diet to specific individual

needs• Locate genes that cause various diseases,

conditions and traits

Genetic Engineering

Ethical Concerns:• Designer babies and Eugenics• Gene Therapy may undermine free will and

autonomy (turning off certain genes that determine behavior; “religious gene” or “gay gene”)

• Experimentation: (1) Are desperate individuals giving their true consent? (2) Abuse

• Upsetting the balance in nature

Genetic Modification of Food

• Genetic modification of plants and vegetables:

Genetic Modification of Food

• Genetic manipulation of animals

Genetic Manipulation of Food

Ethical Concerns:• Weighing benefits & risks:

– Benefits: Longer healthier lives– Risks: Unknown risks

• Interfering with nature• Animals can be modified to include

pharmaceuticals in their milk• Genetic manipulation in order to harvest

organs (pigs and heart valves)• Cloned animals in food supply

Example 6: Potential & Challenge: Xenotransplantation

• Pros:• Ameliorates organ

shortage• Replacement of the

heart, lungs, liver, & kidneys

• Biochemical profile of pigs & human are similar

• Genetic similarities with primates

• Cons:• Animals are GE• Animals destroyed

for harvesting • Rejection of organs

by human immune system as foreign

• Retro viruses• Viral infections• Human must refrain

from procreating

Similarities between human & porcine organs

Organ harvesting

Example 7: Potential & Challenge: Genetic Screening

Genetic Screening

Ethical Concerns:• Privacy

– People have a right to privacy• Public access to records

– Who should have access to your personal medical records?

– Data Banks• Conflicts of Interest (Employment, Insurance)• Genetic Discrimination

– Discriminating people based on condition and predisposition

– Genetic Profiling