Topic 10: Ethics in Biotechnology

Ethics

Rules of conduct recognised by an external source or social system, such as a medical code of ethics.

Morals

Principles or habits relating to right or wrong conduct based on an individual’s own internal compass.

Bioethics

The specific area of ethics dealing with the implications of biological research and biotechnological applications, particularly in medicine.

The "Can" vs. "Should" Question

The basic ethical dilemma in biotechnology shifting focus from technical possibility ("Can we do it?") to moral justification ("Should we do it?").

Utilitarian Approach

An ethical framework stating that an action is moral if it produces the "greatest good for the greatest number", focusing on consequences.

Deontological (Objectivism) Approach

An ethical framework that prioritizes absolute principles and duties regardless of the consequences.

Utilitarianism Advantages/Disadvantages

Focuses on tangible benefits; Disadvantage: Hard to quantify values like love or family.

Deontology Advantages/Disadvantages

Advantage: Provides clear-cut, consistent formulas; Disadvantage: Can be rigid and ignore practical, common-sense outcomes.

Fair Allocation (Deontology)

The use of impartial procedures like a lottery or first-come-first-served to allocate resources, rather than calculating the greatest overall benefit.

Risk Assessment

The statistical probability of a bad event occurring combined with an evaluation of how negative that effect would be.

Golden Rice

Rice engineered to produce beta-carotene (Vitamin A) to address malnutrition in developing countries; it faces ethical questions regarding corporate control and safety.

Myostatin

A protein that normally limits muscle growth; editing its gene creates a "double-muscled" phenotype, raising questions about therapy versus enhancement.

Chickens with Teeth

An experiment where mouse cells were implanted into chick embryos to show cellular signaling; it raises the ethical question of whether such chimeras should be allowed to reach adulthood.

Molecular Pharming Dilemma

Ethical concerns regarding the dignity and identity of animals engineered to produce human milk or drugs in their milk.

Egg Donation Ethics

Concerns regarding paying women (up to $10,000) for eggs for stem cell research, including health risks from hormonal stimulation and the "commodification of life.

Gene Patenting Problems

While profitable, patenting gene sequences can limit scientific access for other researchers and restrict treatment availability.

Factors Influencing Bioethical Decisions

Balancing competing values such as animal welfare, human health, social justice, economics, and long-term environmental consequences.

Virotherapy/Targeted Therapy Equality

Concerns that highly specialized or "bespoke" treatments may only be accessible to the wealthy, increasing social inequality.

Example of utilitarian vs deontological

Imagine someone who's very hungry and has no money to buy food, sees a loaf of bread sitting on a table outside a store.

Imagine someone who's very hungry and has no money to buy food, sees a loaf of bread sitting on a table outside a store.

Utilitarian = take into account the person's need, the available food, and the minuscule loss in value to the store and consider that it would be okay to take the bread.

An objectivist (deontologist) approach might have the absolute "it is wrong to steal" and consider it unethical to take the bread.