Being able to distinguish between right and wrong and to make decisions based on that knowledge is considered "having good morals." Because there are some differences in people's beliefs of right and wrong, some people have different morals than others. The study of moral standards and how they affect conduct is called ethics. "Bioethics" is a term that has been coined to describe the study of decision-making as it applies to moral decisions that need to be made because of advances in biology, medicine, and technology.
List your topic (you were assigned in class) and issues about your topic below.
Scientific Dishonesty - Biotechnology research labs require funding in order to function. Biotech labs are often funded by organizations like the American Cancer Society. Due to a biotech lab's need for funding and the organizations funding them wanting to hear of advances and success sometimes labs are dishonest about their research. For example say there was a research lab researching cancer treatment who came up with a new experiment. Their first few tries at the experiment succeeded but suddenly an experiment fails. In order to keep getting funded for research the lab may tell their funders about the successful experiments but not their failed one, this is considered scientific dishonesty.
ReplyDeletesome biotech labs may be producing biotech weaponry and the populace wouldn't know it. Its kinda like one of those movies with underground facilities.
Delete5% of scientists have admitted to misconduct in their research. They will just toss out lab results if they contradict their evidence.
DeleteGenetic Disorders- Many disorders can now be detected by prenatal tests, such as ultrasound and amniocentesis, allowing parents and doctors to know about the disorders a baby may have before it is born.
ReplyDeleteThis knowledge raises difficult ethical questions that have not been solved to the satisfaction of our society. Many parents choose to terminate a pregnancy if the child will have a severe disorder when it is born.
I think that being able to test for genetic disorders is a good thing because if a couple is going to have a child with a severe disorder and they know that they won't be able to handle raising a child with that particular disorder they can terminate the pregnancy rather than giving the child up for adoption. If the child is given up for adoption there is a potential that they will not get a permanent home. It is better for couples to figure out about genetic disorders ahead of time.
DeleteI think it could be used as a kind of proactive "mercy rule", where if the child has a disorder that will ultimately kill them, why expose them to the pain and despair of such a life?
DeleteLimited Medication - With the amount of patients infected with HIV, its no surprised there would eventually be medicine to treat it. On the other hand, this medicine is costly, so there is no surprise there is little demand for it, as most people cannot afford it. What I would do in this situation, would be to provide the medicine to those who can partially afford it, and provide a smaller dosage than usual, and give to those as much as they could give to the companies.
ReplyDeleteIf the price is lowered I feel the cost would equal out anyway. With it being cheaper there would be a huge amount of people getting the medicine which would equal out to the very few people who get it that can afford it now.
DeleteAnimals in Science & Industry- Throughout history people have used animals for food, clothing, and medication; also less severe things such as transportation, lab testing, and as educational tools (like zoos). The idea of bioethics is whether it is morally right to use these animals for these purposes. The question is "is it right to kill an animal to save a human's life?"
ReplyDeleteI think it is. They just become dirt, whereas we, have families, a history, feelings. If we had to kill animals to find a cure for the common cold or cancer, I would be all for it.
DeleteIt is proven that animals have feelings as well, including a history. Elephants for example, bury their dead, and re-visit them. Also, we humans become dirt as well. We are all made of cells. Do not forget. Humans are just animals as well. In all honesty, I would kill an animal to save a human's life, including that of another human. We are all animals.
DeleteDesigner Babies: When couples find out that they are having a baby, most usually want to find out if it is a boy or a girl. With new technology, doctors are also able to find out if the embryo has enzyme deficiencies or chromosome abnormalities. But now the controversial topic is gender selection. Gender selection is allowing the couple to pick if they want a boy or girl, and being able to have an abortion if they do not have what they wanted. The decision and opinion on gender selection comes down to peoples morals and whether or not they think it is fair. Most say they do not care if they have a boy or a girl as long as the baby is healthy, but some do.
ReplyDeletestem cell research- is the research using embryonic cells, basically unborn babies. It is very controversial because the government is funding it where as the people are against expirementing on babies.
ReplyDeleteI think stem cell research is a good thing because it can be used to treat so many potential problems and save lives. Stem cells are basically blank cells they can become any type of cell - liver, stomach, skin the genetic makeup can be altered so that it can become the type of cell needed. For example say a person needed a piece of liver researchers can make stem cells into liver cells. It is controversial nowadays because some people consider a small mass of stem cells to be a child when it isn't even anywhere near the stage of being a fetus yet.
Deletestem cells are different and unique than other cells in the body because they can divide and renew themselves after a long period of time, they are unspecialized, and they can cause specialized cell types to occur.
DeleteMonarch Butterflies- Corn is a food source for insects because of the pollen it gives off. Some insects that feed off the corn are beneficial to its growing process but others are harmful. The harmful ones take a toll on the production of corn which means money is lost for farmers. Corn now has been genetically engineered to have the Bt gene that produces a toxic compound that kills insect larvae. Monarch butterflies do not interrupt the corns production and instead eat milkweed leaves that grow out around corn fields. Because of the new gene that kills insects, the pollen that blows over to the milkweed leaves from the corn is killing the monarch butterflies. and with that people feel the population of monarch butterflies is in danger.
ReplyDeleteLoss of habitat in the summer breeding grounds is another factor that could be contributing to the decline in monarch numbers. We are losing 6,000 acres of potential monarch/pollinator habitat a day in the United Stated due to development (2.2 million acres per year). The losses of habitat due the adoption of glyphosate tolerant corn and soybeans in the last 10 years amount to at least 100 million acres. The conversion of 7 million acres of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land to crops for the production of biofuels adds to the total. In all, we estimate the loss of habitat to be 147 million acres since Monarch Watch was started in 1992 – an area 4 times the state of Illinois.
DeleteScientists should create a gene that helps the butterflies out as well. This gene should be spliced with the milkweed leaves so that the butterflies would not be damaged in any way possible by the pollen which has been blowing over to them.
DeletePromise of gene therapy: As opposed to "designer babies", gene therapy aims to fix genetically transferred diseases after birth, often with the use of modified viruses/bacteria to deliver new DNA to the patient's cells. Unfortunately, it is not a perfect science, and some accidents occur, such as one patient who had such a strong immune system response to the modified virus that he died four days later. The question is; is it right to try to "fix" a human's genetic code, especially when the only techniques available are still highl experimental?
ReplyDeletesome would say that it is right to give the child every possible chance in life and others would say not to because that's not what their god intended. But the price is understandable, not many are going to do an experimental thing, and they still need money to fund the research.
DeleteI think it is right to attempt to fix genetic disorders because eventually a genetic disorder can be wiped out of the population and it would be one less disability humanity has to deal with. Think about it if someone's genetic disorder is "fixed" they can no longer pass it on to their potential offspring. If it gets to the point where no person has a certain genetic disorder it can no longer be passed on to potential offspring and then there is one disorder wiped out.
DeleteDNA Fingerprinting- extraction and analysis of a DNA sequence, creating a code, found in all cells of the human body that unique to a specific individual
ReplyDelete2013- "twenty-eight states and the federal government had passed laws authorizing automatic collection of DNA from individuals arrested for certain felony offenses. DNA sampling has allowed the creation of a number of DNA databases, including the FBI Combined DNA Index System (CODIS)".
organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argue that individual privacy rights are being violated when DNA is collected without consent or without a warrant