Normative Ethics and Bioethics Principles

Normative Ethics

• Normative Ethics focuses on how individuals should act based on morals.
• It provides a framework to assess actions as right or wrong and guides decision-making in moral dilemmas.
• It helps establish standards guiding laws, policies, and personal behavior.

Conversation Stoppers

• Ad Hominem Attacks criticize the person instead of the argument.
• Appeals to Authority rely on an authority figure instead of critical analysis.
• False Dilemmas present only two options when more exist.
• Defensive Postures refuse to engage in discussion.

Bioethics Principles

• Respect for Autonomy: acknowledging the right of individuals to make their own decisions.
• Beneficence: obligation to act in the best interest of others, promoting well-being.
• Non-Maleficence: duty to avoid harm to others.
• Justice: fair distribution of benefits and burdens, ensuring equity in access to healthcare and resources.

Bioethical Decision-Making Process

• Identify the Ethical Issue: define the central ethical dilemma.
• Determine the Facts: gather relevant and accurate information about the situation, including context and key details.
• Evaluate Applications: assess current and potential applications of the technology or decision, considering both immediate and long-term implications.
• Analyze Ethical Principles: identify relevant ethical principles and analyze their influence on potential decisions.
• Consider Modifications: explore potential adjustments or alternatives to the technology or decision.
• Assess Potential Impacts: identify stakeholders affected by the decision and analyze intrinsic and extrinsic concerns.

Lenses and Biases

• Self-Reflection: acknowledge personal experiences, beliefs, and values.
• Recognize Biases: identify how biases influence interpretations of ethical issues and decisions.

Key Ethical Analysis Terms

• Innovation Presumption: assuming that technological innovations are inherently beneficial.
• Stakeholders: individuals or groups with vested interest in a decision, including patients, researchers, policymakers, and community members.
• Types of Values: ethical, economic, social, and environmental values that can influence decision-making.
• Intrinsic Concerns: issues related to an individual's personal values and ethical principles.
• Extrinsic Concerns: issues related to the societal or environmental implications of actions.
• Common Concerns Related to Technology Development:
  • Justice: fair access and treatment.
  • Autonomy: respecting individuals' rights to make informed choices.
  • EHS (Environmental Health and Safety): impacts of technology on public health and the environment.
  • Hubris: overconfidence in technological capabilities without considering risks.
  • Respect for Nature: acknowledging and valuing natural ecosystems.

Ethical Theories

• Consequentialism (Utilitarianism): morality of an action is determined by its outcomes or consequences. The best action maximizes overall happiness or well-being for the greatest number of individuals.

Power, Forms of Life, & Life Cycle Analysis

• Power Analysis: examining who holds decision-making power, ensuring that marginalized voices are considered.
• Form of Life: understanding how specific technologies impact societal norms and ways of living, and how these technologies alter human relationships and interactions.
• Life Cycle Analysis: evaluates environmental and social impacts of a technology from development to disposal.

Personal Identities and Perspective in Bioethics

• Awareness of Diversity: recognizing that factors such as race, gender, socioeconomic status, and cultural background shape diverse perspectives on bioethics, which can influence ethical analyses and decisions.
• Reflecting on Experiences: consider how personal experiences with health, technology, or policy may bias analysis.

Biotechnology Examples - Deliberate Extinction

• Uses advanced biotechnologies, such as gene drive technology and CRISPR to manage invasive species and restore ecological balance.
• Raises concerns regarding the ecological impact of gene drives, including potential biodiversity loss and irreversible changes to ecosystems.
• Emphasizes the importance of stakeholder involvement and the ethical consideration of the moral status of altered species.

Biotechnology Examples - Germline Editing

• Modifies reproductive cells (sperm, eggs, or embryos), resulting in heritable changes passed down to subsequent generations.
• Raises significant ethical and societal concerns regarding informed consent and the long-term effects on the human gene pool.

Ethical Concerns of Genome Editing in Humans

• Research Context: ethical concerns include informed consent, potential discrimination against individuals with genetic conditions, and long-term health impacts.
• Clinical Context: ethical considerations involve weighing the benefits of innovative treatments against the risks of unforeseen consequences, particularly concerning heritable changes, societal norms, equity in access to therapies and the potential for unintended societal consequences.

International Genome Editing Policies

• Ethics Dumping: conducting research or trials in countries with less stringent regulations, raising ethical concerns about exploitation and the protection of vulnerable populations.
• Global Citizen Input: The need for inclusive dialogue that incorporates diverse perspectives in the policy-making process.

The Precautionary Approach:

• Advocates for careful consideration and thorough review before implementing new technologies with potential risks.
• Emphasizes preventing harm rather than waiting for proof of damage.
• Key questions:
  • Are there known intolerable risks associated with the technology?
  • Do the potential benefits significantly address critical problems facing society?
  • Could safer or more effective alternatives exist that would mitigate the associated risks?

Class Activities

• Gene Drives: explored the ecological consequences of gene drives, emphasizing their potential to alter ecosystems significantly, including off-target mutations.
  • Examined the effects of gene drives on our form of life, and intrinsic and extrinsic concerns regarding the technology.
• CRISPR Gene Editing for SCD: Critically assessed the justification for the FDA's approval of therapies like CasgevyTM for treating Sickle Cell Disease using CRISPR technology.
  • Discussed ethical considerations surrounding the approval process, including balancing benefits, patient consent, and long-term monitoring.
  • Discussed societal implications of introducing gene editing therapies.
• Prenatal Gene Editing: examined the ethical implications of genetically modifying babies through prenatal gene editing.
  • Discussed scenarios that might justify such interventions, focusing on genetic disorders and improving quality of life.
  • Analyzed the potential benefits and ethical dilemmas of correcting disease-causing mutations after birth.