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BIOETHICS.
Term Paper ID:28125
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Essay Subject:
Examines policy questions & clinical decisions; research & applications; genetic engineering; recombenant drugs; cloning. Debate over technology.... More...
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7 Pages / 1575 Words
8 sources, 9 Citations,
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Paper Abstract:
Examines policy questions & clinical decisions; research & applications; genetic engineering; recombenant drugs; cloning. Debate over technology.
Paper Introduction:
Bioethics is the examination of policy questions and clinical decisions that have to be made because of advances in medical and other biotechnologies. It represents an attempt to decide what values ought to guide the practice, application, and development of biotechnological techniques, processes, and products in agriculture, health care, food processing and distribution, waste management, chemical and other engineering fields and endeavors. In health care and medical practice alone, a number of controversial issues in this larger context have been identified: abortion of defective fetuses, termination of heroic measures that will prolong life, removal of life support and other systems that also prolong life, surgical and other interventions in the case of severely damaged infants and others, allowing individuals to determine the span of their own
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Bosch, X. While somescientists appear comfortable with the idea that these embryos should beput to such a use, others believe that this opens the door for potentialabuses. What if the "products" are ultimately livers,kidneys, and hearts taken from human clones produced solely for the purposeof organ harvesting? New York: Harper Collins. The Christian ScienceMonitor, 91(185), 15. This broad definition attempts to encapsulate all possible aspects ofbiotechnological research and application: The application of organisms, biological systems of biological processes to manufacturing and service industries. Bioethics is the examination of policy questions and clinical decisionsthat have to be made because of advances in medical and otherbiotechnologies. The wave of the future: Nucleic acidvaccines. It represents an attempt to decide what values ought toguide the practice, application, and development of biotechnologicaltechniques, processes, and products in agriculture, health care, foodprocessing and distribution, waste management, chemical and otherengineering fields and endeavors. This may well be a case in which technologyhas progressed faster than man's ability to resolve complex issues andproblems. (1995). Random-cloning has greatly speeded up the Human Genome Project andthere are indications that within five years, it should be possible todevelop pharmaceuticals with specificity for each human genotype. Genetic discrimination is anotherpotential ill effect of this technology, and one that even scientists whoare working in the field are quick to acknowledge (Bosch, 1998). Researchers and their organizations dospend millions on such activities, but the very notion that human geneticmaterial is to be subject to this kind of "ownership" is inherentlytroubling. Progress or peril? It can bedelivered by either DNA or messenger RNA. This is where the medical community, the governmentsand courts, and the human community itself must take a hard look atscience. Recently, at the Fourth International Meeting of the Human GenomeProject (held at Valencia, Spain, October 19 - 21, 1998), the president ofUNESCO's Scientific Coordination Committee for the Project noted that theProject was once seen as an unrealistic dream (Bosch, 1998). However,as Bosch (1998) has reported, despite the great advances made in mappingthe human genome, the usefulness of the current knowledge is limited sincethe precise function of one-half of the genes already identified in thehuman genome is unknown. References Behrens, L. In some countries,governments are working to create genetic catalogs using the medicalrecords of citizens. Biotechnology is defined as "the use ofmicroorganisms, plant cells, animal cells or other parts of cells -- suchas enzymes -- to make products or carry out processes (Behrens and Rosen,1994, p. New York: Macmillan. Burton, D.R., Finely, R., and Tami, J. Somescientists are now considering the use of 5 -cell or 1 -cell human embryosin cloning experiments and justifying this because early embryos are notregarded as human beings and do not have consciousness. In J.G. Whether the question is privacy of human geneticinformation or cloning or the manipulation of RNA and DNA to createhandicap-free humans or a superior race of disease-resistant humans, theissue is difficult at best. The debate over the research now taking place with the Human GenomeProject and throughout the biotechnology laboratories throughout the worldis emotional and intense. Perpich, Ed., Biotechnology in Science. 63 )." From the perspective of the general public, however,biotechnology is most often understood as the use of technology in thepursuit and application of human genetic knowledge. Among the advantages attributedto this method of immunization are its capacity to overcome many of thedrawbacks of classical immunization; it is believed that a vaccine againstHIV could be developed using this emergent technology. L. Bioethics is a term which, like biotechnology encompasses manydefinitions. Patient Care, 23, 99-1 9. The firstwas the ability to express genes for the antigen-binding fragment of humanantibodies in bacteria, while the second was the development of thepolymerase chain reaction (PCR), allowing the exemplification of antibodygenes. Repertoire cloning, as this technique is called, relies upon thecreation of a complex "library" of "books" identified by genetic content.Subsequent research into this area has proven valuable. In the view of this writer, this latter use of the humangenome is unethical. The industrial impact of the biologicalRevolution. In this context, the World Medical Association (WMA) recentlyprepared a framework for developing ethical guidelines on centralizedhealth databases (Kapp, 2 ). From the perspective of this writer, traffic in aborted humanembryos could very well become a major ethical and legal problem ifresearchers become aggressive in pursuing this kind of activity. Burton, Finely, and Tami (1993) offered a lengthy and informativedescription of the ways in which medical science and research are examiningthe use of recombinant drugs in the treatment of various diseases andillnesses, including HIV/AIDS and its various related conditions such asKarposi's sarcoma, tuberculosis, and hepatitis B. Writing andReading Across the Curriculum. Coombs, J. Aspects of genetic engineering and bioengineering are also sometimes included in consideration of biotechnology, as are aspects of agriculture, horticulture and forestry where in vitro techniques of propagation or genetic manipulation are used. Shortly afterWatson and Crick announced their research findings, the National Institutesof Health in the United States offered a funding initiative for proposalsexamining the ethical, social, and legal issues that may arise from thesedevelopments. 16). Though essentiallydescriptive, this article offers an excellent overview of the trends inrecombinant DNA/RNA research that are holding out new hope to patients withthese diseases and conditions. A second study was described by DeNoon (1995) and was conducted bythe Loeb Medical Research Institute of Ottowa, Ontario, Canada. (2 ). There are legitimate fears being expressed that inthe wrong hands, such information has a potential for abuse. WMA drafts guidelines on genetic databases.Lancet, 355(2916), 17 4.----------------------- 1 Intellectual property law can be invoked by researchers toprovide financial protection for their work and findings and products, butshould human genetic material by subject to such "protections?" If the "products" that are to be protected are medications orvaccines that can be marketed commercially, then the ethical issue isperhaps less compelling. The World Health Organization (WHO) hastaken a lead role in creating this framework, which will reflect the beliefthat nonconsensual use or disclosure of health information is a violationof a patient's right to privacy, likely to compromise the physician orscientist's duty of confidentiality, and is potentially disruptive of thetrust and integrity of the therapeutic relationships. Whether the subject is human genetic engineering or thecreation of new and presumably efficient plant species, there is noconsensus as to the ethical constraints which should be imposed uponresearchers or with respect to the use and application of knowledge andproducts generated by biotechnological research. Nucleic acid imunication isthe induction of an immune response to an antigen that has been synthesizedin vivo from a gene that has been introduced into the body. and Rosen, L.J. Kapp, C. Other advantagesinclude: - Decreased number of required doses; - Increased response rate; - Reduced side effects due to toxicity; - Avoidance of the infection risks of a live vaccine.AIDS/HIV is one of the diseases awaiting vaccines for which the classicalapproaches have not been successful; it is hoped that the DNA approach willoffer a solution in such cases. Here, again, the issue of patenting emerges, asdoes the question of whether or not the information obtained fromindividuals could be used inappropriately by governments and privatecompanies such as insurance companies. (1994). Uncontrolled experimentation with the human genome and itspotentials is, in the view of this writer, likely to lead to major ethicaland human rights abuses. In health care and medical practicealone, a number of controversial issues in this larger context have beenidentified: abortion of defective fetuses, termination of heroic measuresthat will prolong life, removal of life support and other systems that alsoprolong life, surgical and other interventions in the case of severelydamaged infants and others, allowing individuals to determine the span oftheir own lives either by refusing treatment or more active measures, andthe dissemination and distribution of vaccines, pharmaceuticals, and othergoods and services equitably across the global community. (1992). Burton, et al (1993), have described the development of recombinantDNA/RNA technology as an incremental process in which researchers move fromone discovery and application to another. The mostsignificant issue related to biotechnology is the use to which the humangenome will be put -- or whether or not the human genome will be used tocreate new medications, eliminate hereditary illnesses or conditions, or tocreate "clones" that could serve as a source of organs needed fortransplant. Editors. Here, genetic research using the humangenome makes good sense and holds out the promise of eliminating a deadlydisease from the world. Laurent Beslie (1999) has pointed out that one of the very realdangers in the "human genome project" is that scientists may beginpatenting their discoveries -- and even patenting selected forms of humanlife as well. Biotechnologies can be divided into the traditional areas of fermentation for the production of potable beverages, foodstuffs, antibiotics and waste treatment, and the new biotechnologies, including the production and use of organisms which have been genetically manipulated for the large-scale production of single-cell protein, proteins, biologically active peptides, vaccines and other products of health care interest, as well as the use of hybridomas for the production of monoclonal antibodies for diagnostic and therapeutic use (Glick, 1995, p. Further,given the fact that many in the United States and throughout the worldcontinue to call for a moratorium on abortion rights, it is highly doubtfulthat extensive research will be conducted without public protest anddebate. This definition has been extended to include any process in which organisms, tissues, cells, organelles or isolated enzymes are used to convert biological or other raw materials to products of greater value, as well as the design and use of reactors, fermenters, downstream processing, analytical and control equipment associated with biological manufacturing processes. It is perhaps interesting that Coombs (1992) in hiscomprehensive and highly detailed Dictionary of Biotechnology fails toprovide a definition of either "bioethics" or "ethics" as these constructsrelate to the field itself. However, debateover the extent to which such research should proceed is ongoing; since"Dolly," the cloned sheep, first appeared, scientists have realized thatcloning of human beings is not an impossibility. Belsie, L. (1998). Creating human beings capable of autonomous and independent lifesolely for the purpose of maintaining a pool of harvestable organs (forsale to the highest bidder, no doubt) would demand that we redefine what itmeans to be human and to possess human rights. Geneticists discuss ethics of Human GenomeProject. (1995). "Genetic engineering,"as it is sometimes thought of, is associated with working to rid the worldof genetic materials, codes, or products regarded as undesirable -- as isthe case with certain birth defects, such as Downs Syndrome, spina bifida,or other defects carried in DNA and passed on from generation to generationand with diseases such as HIV/AIDS. (1994). Glick, J. They note that humaninsulin is the foremost example of recombinant DNA technology now inmedical use by primary care and other physicians. Critics of bioengineering -- and of"gene splicing," which is the process by means of which human geneticmaterials are manipulated to produce modifications in the DNA strandregarded as desirable or beneficial -- argue that certain applications ofbiotechnology are simply versions of potentially dangerous eugenicmanipulation. Recombinant drugs: Apromise realized. One of the major ethical, social, religious and politicalcontroversies of this decade is focused on the question of biotechnologyresearch and applications. AIDS Weekly Plus, 13, 7-11. This is particularly troubling in that it suggests that humanlife may assume little more than the status of a commodity to be marketedand sold to the highest bidder. (1999). This dealswith nucleic acid immunization, a new recombinant DNA technique that willmake vaccines more affordable (and, hopefully, effective) and therefore,more readily available to Third World nations. Lancet, 352(9138), 1448. This oversight notwithstanding, since Watsonand Crick first identified DNA and set the stage for the biotechnologicalrevolution, debate as to the ethical nature of genetic or organicmanipulation of living beings and species has been intense. Dictionary of Biotechnology. New York:Pergamon Press, 47-61. In their view, two developmentsin the 198 s made manufacture of human monoclonal antibodies (such as thoseused in treating AIDS/HIV) by recombinant DNA methods possible. DeNoon, Daniel J.
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