lec 12 - ethics Flashcards
(44 cards)
1
Q
ethics
A
code of values for our actions
2
Q
bioethics
A
implications of biological research and biotech applications on humanity –> asking should this be done?
3
Q
ethical decision making
hippocrates
A
hippocratic oath –> do not harm
4
Q
utilitarian viewpoint
A
- something is good if it’s useful
- an action is moral if it produces greatest good for greatest number
5
Q
list (4)
utilitarianism limits
A
- emphasizes consequences, not intentions
- must assign a value to what’s being considered –> love and family not easily quantified
- quantifiable things (material goods and life span) emphasized bc quantifiable
- who assigns value?
6
Q
deontological viewpoint
A
- kantian/duty ethics
- imperatives or absolute principles we should follow out of sense of duty and should dictate our actions
- definitive rules that cannot be broken
7
Q
list (2)
deontology limits
A
- too objective, rigid
- may not take into account important factors in changes in value
8
Q
modern bioethics
A
- mix of 2 old views
- gather info, consider facts, make thoughtful and informed decision
- respect and consider other viewpoints
9
Q
risk assessments
A
considers likelihood that something harmful or unintended will happen in making a decision
10
Q
list (3)
ethics of animal biotech
A
- is it moral to interfere with nature?
- effects of genetic modification on products consumed by humans
- is there a point at which the animal acquires enough human genes, cells, or attributes to be considered human?
11
Q
ethics of synthetic biology
A
- synthetic genome transplanted into bacterial strain to change recipient microbe into organism of donor microbe
- what should and shouldn’t be done with synthetic organisms?
12
Q
list (4)
ethics of clinical trials
A
- who will be administered the drugs? (healthy, early stage, terminally ill)
- should children be included?
- are placebos ethical? (denies patient care)
- should clinical trail data be public or do they belong to drug company?
13
Q
informed consent
A
physicians have duty to disclose personal interest in research and potential economic matters unrelated to patient treatment
14
Q
list (2)
ethics of patent rights and biological materials
A
- what rights does donor have to stem cell lines or technologies created from cells they’ve donated?
- should tissue donors share monetary rewards for their cells?
15
Q
what have courts ruled about biological material ownership?
A
donors of cells and other biological materials don’t have ownership rights of their biological materials
16
Q
HeLa cells
A
- used to study effects of drugs, hormones and toxins on growth of cancer cells –> over 110,000 publications
- permits growth of large amounts of virus –> polio vaccine creation, HIV drugs
- all this research done without explicit consent of henrietta lacks (died from ovarian cancer)
17
Q
ethics of patient consent (HeLa cells)
A
- researchers posted genome sequence of HeLa cells online
- broke no rules but brought up issues of privacy
- henrietta gave no consent to have her genome sequence made public
18
Q
result of HeLa scandal
A
- henrietta’s family sued thermo fisher scientific + hundreds of other companies for use of her cells in 2021
- settled in 2023
19
Q
list (3)
moral status of human embryo
A
- what is moral status of early embryos created by therapeutic cloning?
- is it ethical to use embryos for research that may treat thousands?
- is it acceptable to produce embryo for sole purpose of destroying it for other uses?
20
Q
status of personhood
A
- used to define an entity that qualifies for protection based not on instrinsic value but rather on certain attributes like self-awareness
- but who decides which attributes count in evaluating whether a human being can be valued as person?
21
Q
3 views on embryo research
A
- not a person, not a problem
- form of human life deserving profound respect
- embryo has same moral value as any other member of human species
- but does any human cell deserve respect as potential person?
22
Q
embryo ethics example
A
- coaxing iPSCs to form cluster that closely resemble blastocysts –> takles human fertility
- does it count as human? is it ok?
23
Q
spare embryos vs creating embryos for research
A
primary source of embryos is excess ones from IVF –> would be discarded anyways
24
Q
time limit on embryos before ethican concerns set in
A
- embryos grown in lab should be studied only up to 14 days after creation in western countries
- can be used for longer only if research deemed scientifically justifible with no suitable alternatives
25
what do researchers use instead of human embryos?
mouse models to understand early mammalian development but doesn't fully translate to humans
26
human commercialization (egg donation)
- paying women for surgical removal of eggs for stem cell research
- should they be paid? is there a limit?
- how many times can eggs be donated over period of time?
- would paying for eggs create market where women donate eggs as employment?
27
# list (2)
ethics of cloning
- potential identity of clone and their interactions
- is creating cloned embryos with intent of starting pregnancy just another type of assisted reproductive technology (like IVF)?
28
human commercialization (cloning)
making human life a commodity to be bought, sold, used
29
# list (3)
struggles for human clone
- lack of relatedness to one parent changes kinship and family relationships
- expectations put on clone to live better life than person cloned
- expectation to live up to legacy achieve by donor
30
mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT)
- replacing mitochondrial in human oocytes by spindle transfer and subsequent reversal to maternal mtDNA in ESCs
- 3 parents offspring (DNA of mother, father, mtDNA of donor)
31
# ist (4)
ethics of genetic testing for disorders
- should we test for genetic disorders for which there are no effective treatments?
- how to effectively communicate results and actual risks?
- when are parents justified in discarding embryos? is it acceptable for all diseases?
- should those tested as newborns have access to their genetic info?
32
krabbe disease
- fatal genetic brain disorder
- US advisory added this disease to newborn screening list --> resuce affected babies from pain, suffering, and early death
- current treatment: hematopoietic stem cell transplant --> leaves them with functional impairments
33
# list (1)
ethics on genetic testing for non-disease related genes
should testing be allowed for traits like intelligence, skin color, height, weight?
34
identifiability
potential for disseminated genetic data to be associated with specific individuals --> major concern with rise of electronic medical record keeping
35
good genomic practices
proposed to ensure proper and ethical handling of genomic data
36
privacy of DNA info - used negatively by...
- employers
- insurance companies
- government agencies
- thru perceptions by general public
37
genetic information nondiscrimination act (GINA)
prohibits discrimination based on genetics or improper use of genetic information in health insurance or employment
38
# list (3)
at what level is gene editing/therapy justifiable?
- treatment of predisposition to genetic disease (e.g. BRCA mutation)?
- treatable diseasess for which patients take daily but effective medications?
- cosmetic conditions (e.g. baldness)
39
# list (3)
ethics on human enhancements
- enhancement of individual genetics
- gene doping
- germ line genetic engineering (eugenics)
40
policy regulations for CRISPR-Cas9 vary around the world
- sweden, UK, japan, china approved research applications of CRISPR in human embryos
- other jurisdications considering such approvals
41
national academy of sciences (NAS) and national academy of medicine (NAM)
- govern human gene editing
- healthy babies NOT designer babies
42
# list (6)
chinese scientist genetically altered babies in womb sentenced to 3 years in jail - what did he do wrong?
- premature, irresponsible, unjutified
- exposed to long term risks for little, if any, medical benefits
- failed to conform to international norms
- poorly designed protocol
- failure to protect welfare of babies
- lack of transparency at all stages of study
43
# list (5)
origins of bioethics
scientific + medical + legal + philosophical + religious
44
should you be able to patent a human gene?
claim it as yours?
