Table of Contents

E x e c u t i v 2 1. I n t r o d 3 2. 3. Definitions M e t 3 4. Results & Discussions 4 . 1 T h e c o n t e m p o r a r y 4 4 . 2 H i s t o r i c a l 5 4 . 3 T h e F u t u r e 5 5 . C 6 6 . R e c 6 6 . 1 R e c o m m e n d a t i o n 6 6.2 6.3 8. R Recommendation 2 Recommendation 3 e f e

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3 h o d s

4 e t h i c a l i s s u e s

i s s u e s

i n

b i o e t h i c s

e t h i c a l

i s s u e s

7 7 r e n c e s

Executive Summary
Bioethics has been and will always be a topic of heated controversial discussion. Mainly due to the potentially devastating pandemic level of events that it can lead to. This report critically analysis the key areas of the past, present and future issues surrounding bioethics and provide the following recommendations to the Australian Government:

Recommendations:

6.1 Stem cell research is only to be done in collaboration with collaboration between several independent laboratories in order for there to be unbiased research aims to be created. Funding from a single private organisation would be blocked so the research benefactors would be more evenly distributed and not for the sole aim of one company.

6.2 A bioethical committee will need to be run in collaboration of not only scientists but people outside of the professions such as religious, legal and social backgrounds ensuring that the bioethical questions are not only asked from one point of view but from the society as a whole.
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6.3 The government should impose laws that make it mandatory to fully disclose all information to the patient before any trials or experiments can be done. For instance, all risks and benefits should be explained, alternative treatment options should be explored, a complete description of the procedure and the probability of different outcomes of treatment should also be fully explained before trials.

1. Introduction
Bioethics has been an issue for centuries. It has been on the minds of biologist since the first experiments but recently, with the extreme speed in which biotechnology is advancing, the question about what is acceptable and what isnt has become of key importance. This report will focus on critically reviewing the literature on past, present and future ethical issues that surround biotechnology and recommend future actions that can be taken to improve bioethics from the viewpoint of the Australian Government.

2. Definition
Cook-Deegan (2008) states that bioethics is the study of controversial ethical questions that have arisen from the advances in technology in the field of biology and cover areas of humanities, social sciences, religion, philosophy, law and history. Bioethics has also been approached as an understanding of what people believe and the actions the way in which they act, in accordance to the ethical issue arisen from biotechnology (Fitzsimons 2007). Biotechnology has been defined as any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof (whether genetically modified or not) to make or modify products or processes for general use (Fitzsimons 2007).

3. Method
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I have researched the literature for past, present and future ethical controversies surrounding biological advances (Bioethics) using the sociological research method. The data presented in this report have been collated from sound and relevant academic sources. The strength of the methodology comes from the fact that knowledge from experts in the field will be summarised into a concise report can be used to review the field of bioethics. Another strength of the report stems from the number of citations from an array of authors which will give a diverse understanding of the field and not just one experts opinion. A weakness of the method can be found in the fact that the information found in this report is all based on secondary sources and does not incorporate primary sources such as surveys or interviews.

4. Results and Discussions

Through the literature review, it is apparent that the issue of bioethics is controversial and it is possible to understand that currently, strategies are being created to more fully understand the idea of bioethics and hence be able to create solutions for ethically developing biological technology for the future.

4.1 The contemporary ethical issues.

In the wake of the Human Genome Project which brought upon a new era of research tools, databases, and 25000 identified human genes in DNA (Hoog et.al, 2000) the rapid growth in biological understanding has led to bioethics being in the in the forefront of social, religious, ethical and legal controversy. Currently, there are laws in most first world countries that prevent the use of germ line cells (Stem cells) when doing genetic manipulation. The reason for the prevention is so that if there are any mishaps, the problems will not be passed on to the next generation. In contrast, there are already places around the world which do not have specific laws and regulations and so in light of the risks germ line therapy is occurring in
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these unregulated countries (Cook-Deegan et.al, 2008).

Funding for biotechnological projects are biased toward the needs and desires of private companies. The companies only fund projects which benefit their goals such as shareholder wealth and what they deem to be productive (Cook-Deegan et.al, 2008). The bioethical question that arises from this is that the research is not being done for the good of the world but for the good of private investors (Cook-Deegan et.al, 2008).

Lastly, Hoog et.al (2000) illustrates the success and failure of Dolly, the cloned sheep. The journal illustrates that cloning of animals have problems in which there are high levels of defective animals being born with limb and joint abnormalities, this issue of animal cruelty is another current issue for bioethics (Hoog et.al, 2000). 4.2 Historical issues in Bioethics.

Historically, there have been several issues that surrounded bioethics. Firstly, religion and in particular, Christianity has been a factor which repressed biotechnology on the grounds of religious responses to how scientists were trying to act as God (Cook-Deegan et.al, 2008). Secondly as technology advanced, the idea of end of life care such as the use of respirators to keep a person alive were under debate as it was artificially keeping a person alive. Thirdly, a very important issue surrounding bioethics was brought about by the idea of eugenics, in which people were selectively sterilised on the grounds that they were, for example: defective, sexual perverts, drug fiends or diseased (Smith, n.d). Lastly, bioethical issues arose during World War 2, when the Germans did biotechnological and biomedical testing on subjects who did not consent to the studies (Cook-Deegan et.al, 2008). The prisoners of war who were forced into these trials were put through torture and poisoning and clearly ethical limits had been not considered at all in these situations.

4.3 The future ethical issues.

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The future issues bioethics will deal with are endless and the reason for this is technological advances will be endless. It is only possible to identify a few decades into the future are it is unknown what is in store for the future. In the case of genetic information and its applications for gene discrimination, Borckett & Tankersely (1997) states that in the future, insurance companies may use genetic testing to identify if a potential client is at risk of any known diseases. This gives rise to selection, not only by insurance companies but also by employees, who dont want sick or at risk workers (Borckett & Tankersely, 1997). Next, it would be possible to see how the application of genetic disease identification could cause ethical issues in relation to mothers who are pregnant and want to check for any genetic defects (Fitzsimons, 2007). Furthermore, designed babies could be the next step in which potential parents could mix and match characteristics that are beneficial to the child, in effect creating a design baby (Fitzsimons, 2007). Thirdly, a bioethical issue that is arising amongst biologists the world over is that because of their prolonged test tube use of DNA, these people are becoming numbed to the reality that they are actually dealing with the DNA of humans (Cline, 2007). In other words, scientists look at human DNA the same as any other animal or plant DNA and so boundaries that were held for the sanctity or uniqueness of human DNA is being lost and more and more interchanging experiments between species are and will be undertaken without fully understanding the consequences (Cline, 2007).

5. Conclusion

Bioethics is an ever changing and endless issue. As bioethics stems from the culture and acceptance of people of the current time and technology, it is important to look at historically significant events and use them for creating legislation for current and future application of biological technology. It is only inevitable that bioethics will become increasingly more important in the future as it is a fast paced and growing industry. The desire of humans to extend life and or to become immortal is the driving force that is and will produce more issue
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on bioethics in the future.

6. Recommendations

The Australian Government will need to implement the following recommendations to ensure safe, efficient and equitable use of biotechnology which address bioethical issues in the future.

6.1 Stem cell research is only to be done in collaboration with three or more independent laboratories in order for there to be unbiased research aims. This will prevent the funding from single private organisations and the research will be more transparent.

6.2 It is important that genetic testing all goes through a bioethical committee that will be again run in collaboration of not only scientists but from people from religious, legal and social backgrounds. This will ensure that the bioethical questions are not only asked from one point of view but from the society as a whole.

6.3 Full disclosure should be made to the patient before any trials or experiments can be done. For instance, all risks and benefits should be explained, alternative treatment options should be explored, a complete description of the procedure and the probability of different outcomes of treatment should also be fully explained before trials.

Reference
Cook-Deegan,R., Lohr.K &, Palmer.J. 2008, How Bioethics Can Inform Policy Decisions About Genetic Enhancement, Philosophy and Medicine, vol 98, pp161-198. viewed on 1st September 2011 Brockett, P.L, Tankersley, E.S. 1997, The genetics revolution, economics, ethics, and insurance Journal of Business Ethics. Nov, vol 16,no.15, p.1662. viewed on 1st September 2011 Cline. C.A, 2007, Biotechnology and the New Right: A Progressive Red Herring? The American Journal of Bioethics, vol. 7,no. 10, pp15-17. viewed on 3rd September 2011 Fitzsimons. P, 2007, Biotechnology, ethics and education, Studies in Philosophies and Education, springer-science, vol 16, pp1-11. viewed on 3rd September 2011 Hoog. A, Buning. T and Hazekamp. A, 2000, Dollys Deceiving Perfection: Biotechnology, Animal Welfare, and Ethics, Jornal of applied animal welfare science. Vol 3 no.1, pp6369. viewed on 1st September 2011
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Smith, A. (n.d), Eugenics: Whats in a Name? http://www.galtoninstitute.org.uk/Newsletters/GINL0006/name.htm. viewed on 6th September 2011