1. Lecture 2: Ethics in Medical Biotechnology
Medical Biotechnology, BIOL456
Fall 2016
Sulaiman Al-Hashmi

2. Ethics
What is ethics?
the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles
What is Bioethics?
The ethics of medical and biological research
Study of ethical principles and values that guide behavior and policy in biomedicine

3. Ethical concerns Human health! Extensive use of humans
Biomedical research
Drug trials
May cause some physical, mental, emotional, and genetic disabilities

4. Bioethics network Requires collaboration among: Pharmaceuticals Law
Medicine
Stem cell research
Biotechnology
Politics
Sociology
Genetics
Environmental toxicology
Public health

5. Major Ethical issues Embryonic stem cell research Gene Therapy
Cloning
Embryo screening
Organ transplantation
Vaccines
DNA Fingerprint
Xenotransplantation

6. Human Cloning Creation of a genetically identical copy Types:
Does not follow the natural process
Types:
Therapeutic cloning
Cloning cells from an adult for use in medicine and research,
Reproductive cloning
Making cloned humans
Replacement cloning
Replacement of damaged or dysfunctional body parts through transplantation

7. Organ transplantation
Kidney
Liver
Pancreas
Cornea
Heart
Lung
Thymus
Intestine
Heart valves
Blood vessels
Skin

8. Organ transplantation

10. Organ transplantation
Organ dysfunction
Suffering
Life quality
Work
Social life
Multi-cellular
Living and cadaver
Surgical procedure

11. Ethical concerns in Organ tx.
Religious
Living donor
Cadaver
Brain death!
Moral
Close relatives
Stranger
Social perspective

12. Donor safety Recipient safety Commercialization Procedure Post tx.
Organ function
Disease transmission
HLA match
Commercialization
Living donor
Brain death (life ending)

13. Embryo screening Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PIGD)
To know about the genetic of the fetus
Avoids pregnancy termination
Fetal diseases!
Future treatment for the disease!!
PIGD can’t be considered a diagnostic tool.
Can be used to determine the gender of the embryo
Male
Female

14. Xenotransplantation
Transplantation of cells, tissues, or organs from one species to another
Do we need it?
Human organ shortage
Complications
High rejection, improving
Transmission diseases
Religion

15. Human embryonic stem cells

16. Embryos donated by patients
For research purposes with informed consent of the donors
IVF, only extra can be used for research
ESCs can be differentiated into all types of body cells and organs
Can be used to treat different disease
But:
Destroy a starting life
Ending pre-mature embryos
Uncontrolled process!

17. Gene Therapy Genes are located on chromosomes If genes altered
Carry specific sequences of bases
Encode instructions on how to make proteins so that the body functions properly
If genes altered
The encoded proteins will not be able to carry out their normal functions
Genetic disorders can result

18. Genetic engineering can be conducted in two modification ways
Genetic alteration can be corrected by gene therapy within an individual’s cells and biological tissues to treat disease
Genetic engineering can be conducted in two modification ways
Somatic
Germ-line
With somatic engineering, it modifies only somatic cells such as liver, muscle, or blood cells.
Only affect the individual being treated and does not affect future generations.

19. Somatic engineering techniques available for human use
To treat diseases
Others types of issues
Muscle-strengthening procedure may help patients through genetic therapy by altering the cells to cure the person’s sickness.
The same procedure may applied for genetic enhancement purposes for people seeking greater muscle efficiency

20. Genetic enhancement goes beyond genetic therapy
Enhancing human characters rather than repairing or curing human diseases and conditions.
This opens the door in making radical changes in humankind
One single gene in a human body can perform multiple roles
Thus, adjusting one gene may have more consequences than originally intended

21. Insertion of a functional gene Alteration Removal of genes Concerns:
Techniques
Virus as a vector to transport the genetic materials
Gene complexity

22. A genetic network shows 10 proposed “key driver” genes that may have especially great influence in both type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease
Liiu lab/Brown University

23. Genetic testing Psychological If positive for a ‘bad’ mutation:
Burden of knowing you have the predisposition, particularly if no treatment is available
Genetic determinism: possible overestimation of likelihood of actually becoming afflicted
The situation with Huntington’s is not typical
If negative:
Evidence of ‘survivor guilt’ in some cases
Possible over-confidence
E.g., thinking you won’t get breast cancer because your test for BRCA1 & 2 came out OK

24. More Risks of Being Tested
Practical
Employment
Life insurance
Health Insurance (more important in US)
Is it fair for companies to take genetic information into account when making hiring decisions or decisions about whether to insure a person?

25. Synthetic Biology
The design of new biological parts and systems that do not already exist in the natural world
Re-design existing biological systems to perform specific tasks
Animal model for some diseases
HIV models
New species
May transformed to other animal and come back to human
Food
Fruits

26. Vaccines
Vaccine typically contains an agent that resembles a disease-causing microorganism in the body
Often made from weakened or killed forms of the microbe or its toxins.
The agent stimulates the body’s immune system to recognize the agent as foreign, destroy it, and recall it
The immune system can more easily recognize and destroy any of these microbes that later come across

27. Carry part of the microbes
Not always working
May have side effects
Vaccine industry may cover the safety and efficiency of vaccines financial benefits
Examples:

28. Nanomedicine
Nano-scale science is used for many applications from pharmaceuticals to consumer products
Studies objects nm in size
Silver nanoparticles are naturally anti-microbial and are incorporated into many consumer products
Socks, gym clothes, and Band-Aids to fight bacteria growth
Silver nanoparticles do not discriminate between harmful and harmless bacteria
May harm the environment by killing beneficial microbes

29. Target cancer cells Nanofibers
Deliver drugs directly to the nuclei of cancer cells
Nanofibers
Special materials
Wound dressings
Surgical textiles
Materials used in implants
Artificial organ components