Biotechnology Ethical Concerns

7/28/2019 Biotechnology Ethical Concerns

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Ethical Concerns of Biotechnology

Mohammed Solaiman Haider

Department of Environment

[email protected]# 01817116050
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Ethics

Philosophical study of moral values and rules

Ethics (from the Ancient Greek thikos, the adjective of

thos "custom, habit"), a major branch of philosophy, is

the study of values and customs of a person or group

Ethics covers the analysis and employment of conceptssuch as right and wrong, good and evil, and

responsibility Ethics can usefully be defined as the branch of

philosophy concerned with how we should decide whatis Morally RIGHT or WRONG.


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General Ethical Questions related to

Applications of Modern Biotechnology How to weigh the potential benefits against the possible

costs/risks?

Do the processes themselves constitute an Unnatural interference

with Nature, particularly in breaching Natural Species Boundaries

and violating the Integrity of Species?

What is Ethically Wrong with Interfering with Nature?

Do the processes involve the taking of ethically unjustifiable risks?

From a religious viewpoint, is modern biotechnology to be

interpreted as playing God or as collaborating in the on-going

work of creation?

Do these questions suggest any significant ethical differences

between modern biotechnology and more traditional techniques?


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3 criteria for an ethical conclusion

One can be most confident to make an ethical

conclusion if the following criteria are realized:

First, if the arguments that lead to the particular

conclusion are supported by reason Second, if the arguments have been conducted within

a well established ethical framework and

Third, if a reasonable degree of consensus exists

about the validity of the conclusions, arising from a

process of democratic debate.


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Ethical Concerns: Mythical sometimes!

Respect for life' implies that there should be no interference with it.

Yet, Natural Genomic Plasticity exists in evolutionary living world.

Ethical concerns arises while there is:

Manipulations in the genomes of plants and animals

Fabric of life'-an ethically questionable activity

Creating human-animal embryos, hybrids or chimeras Implanting GM embryos

Use of cell-nuclear-replacement (CNR) techniques to generate

cloned human beings.

Creation of a 'replacement person'

Using genetic manipulation to produce 'designer babies' with

qualities according to parental specification

Persons are never to be commodified, ethically.

Playing God--


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Not considered as Ethical Concerns

Repair of damaged tissues in the ill or injured

Heart transplants are as radically unnatural as gene

transplants, but most people consider them to be

ethically acceptable

Doctors have been transplanting adult blood stemcells, in the form of bone marrow transplants, for

many decades

Ethical does not simply equate with the Natural or

Moral

What is ethical doesnt necessarily be moral or matter

of religious, community or personal belief.


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The Relaxin case

The Green Party opposed European patent 112.149

granted to the Howard Florey Institute of ExperimentalPhysiology and Medicine for human H-2 relaxin, a

hormone involved in reproduction, and a DNA sequence

coding for the hormone.

The facts:

The m-RNA coding for the H-2 relaxin protein had been

isolated from ovarian tissue removed in the treatment

of an ectopic pregnancy.


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Relaxin Case:-Opponents Arguments concerning

Morality(i) It was alleged that it is an offence against morals to exploit

the pregnancy condition of a woman by removing tissue

from her ovary and using it as the basis of a profit-oriented

technical process

(ii) The use of the ovarian tissue for the purposes of the patent

amounted to a form of slavery since it involved

dismemberment of women and their piecemeal sale to

commercial enterprises. This infringed the human right to

self-determination

(iii) To patent human genes meant that human life was being

patented, which is intrinsically immoral.


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Stem Cells: Full of potential

Stem cells from human embryos were only isolated and cultured

in 1998

Stem cells unique properties, able to differentiate into the 300 orso different types of human cell

The cells could potentially be cultured in the lab as an unlimited

source of repair tissue for many ailments

Humans might even one day regenerate missing parts, as newts(an amphibian) do!

stem cells could be studied to provide insights into how human

bodies develop from fertilised eggs

Stem cells with genetic defects could further be used tounderstand how congenital diseases, such as cystic fibrosis,

develop

Stem cells might also be used to test new drugs in the lab on a

range of tissues, instead of on people or animals.


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Potentials

Currently stem cells of both types are being tested to treat manyconditions, including: Alzheimer's disease, blood disorders,

blood loss, baldness, blindness, cystic fibrosis, deafness,

diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, liver damage, lupus,

motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis,

Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injuries and stroke

Stem cells have also been used to fight cancer, treat dogs and

race horses, and provide tissue for human breast implants and

replacement teeth


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Potential Risks of SC

Stem cells could divide uncontrollably to form tumours

called teratocarcinomas

Stem cells might also become cancerous in the lab.

The most significant hurdle to utilize stem cells is

immune rejection. As with any tissue transplant (from a donor other than

an identical twin), the body will recognize ESCs as foreign

and mount an attack which could be fatal for the

invidual.

ESC recipients would have to take immune suppressant

drugs for the rest of their lives.


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Creating stem cells without use of human eggs/embryos

If the method can be perfected then it could quell the ethical

debate troubling the field


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Other alternative for Stem Cells Many hundreds fresh human eggs are needed to generate a single

stem-cell line. Donation rates are low (infertile women must

increasingly go overseas for IVF) and few women will undergo acomplicated, risky procedure for the sake of science.

Dr. Minger's idea is to remove the genetic material from an animal

egg so that it is just a shell and insert the DNA from a human cell.

He says eggs could be taken from the ovaries of thousands of cowsthat are slaughtered every day

If a cow egg is taken and the DNA is removed, an empty shell may

be found that no longer has a species identity. A greater ability to

generate stem cells that will be useful in trying to understand the

basic disease mechanism behind catastrophic neurological

disorders where we haven't been very good at developing

therapies.


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Ethical Decision Making ProcessIn Canada and many other countries throughout the world it is

necessary to have in place guidelines that will demand that research

done on human (or animal) subjects be carried out in the mostprofessional and ethical way possible. These guidelines were adopted

to ensure that research take into account accepted moral behavior and

human dignity. These guidelines, in general cover the issues as follows:

Respect for Human DignityRespect for Free and Informed Consent

Respect for Vulnerable Persons

Respect for Privacy and Confidentiality

Respect for Justice and Inclusiveness

Balancing Harms and Benefits

MinimizingHarm

Maximizing Benefits


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Legal framework on medical biotech

research in Bangladesh

No regulatory framework in place Biosafety Guidelines mainly concentrated on Crop

Biotechnology

Biosafety and Biosecurity issues of any kind of modernbiotechnology should come under wider legal regime

Ethical concerns should be addressed with informed

decision making on any introduction of new technology

in Bangladesh

Ensuring Public Participation through Education and

awareness is important


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Thank you very much

Biotechnology Ethical Concerns

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