04/13/2023 1

BIOETHICS

Presented by Course Teacher

Monoj Sutradhar Dr. D Dayal Doss

Jr. M.sc(Plant Biotechnology) Prof

PALB 3243 Dept of Plant Biotechnology

UAS,GKVK,Bangalore UAS,GKVK,Bangalore

04/13/2023 2

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ETHICS AND MOALS AGRICULTURAL BIOETHICS ANIMAL BIOETHICS HUMAN BIOETHICS BIOETHICS PRINCIPLE

04/13/2023 3

INTRODUCTION

The study of the ethical and moral implications of new biological discoveries and biomedical advances, as in the fields of genetic engineering and drug research is bioethics.

The term “bioethics” was introduced in the 70’s by Van Rensselaer Potter for a study aiming at ensuring the preservation of the biosphere.

It was later used to refer a study of the ethical issues arising from health care, biological and medical sciences.

04/13/2023 4

ETHICS Discipline concerned with right or wrong conduct. Guides to moral behavior. Making choices or judgments.

04/13/2023 5

ETHICS VS MORALS

Morals are an individual frame work for decision making that includes personal values.

Ethics are a generalized conceptual frame work for decision making.

04/13/2023 6

Main topics in Bioethics

Pre-birth Issues Issues in human reproduction Human cloning Stem cell research The new genetics Organ transplant Experimentation with human subjects &

animals GM crops research

04/13/2023 7

BIOETHICS IN AGRICULTURE

04/13/2023 8

BENEFITS OF GENETIC ENGINEERING

04/13/2023 9

GOLDEN RICE

04/13/2023 10

GOLDEN RICE GENE CONSTRUCT

04/13/2023 11

04/13/2023 12

04/13/2023 13

GOLDEN RICE ISSUES

04/13/2023 14

04/13/2023 15

BT BRINJAL  Resistant against lepidopteran insects like brinjal fruit and shoot

borer (Leucinodes orbonalis) and  Mahyco, an Indian seed company based in Jalna, Maharashtra developed bt brinjal.

 The genetically modified brinjal event is termed Event EE 1 was introgressed by plant breeding into various local varieties by University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad andTamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. Some of the cultivars of brinjal include: Malpur local, Manjari gota, Kudachi local, Udupi local, 112 GO, and Pabkavi local.

 The cry1Ac gene is under the transcriptional control of an enhanced cauliflower mosaic virus 35S (CaMV35S) promoter, which ensures the gene is expressed in all the brinjals tissue throughout its complete lifecycle.  NptII and aad are selectable marker genes, nptII  to identify transgenic from non-transgenic, and aad is used to identify the transformed bacteria used during the development of the construct. Aad contains a bacterial promoter and is not expressed in the Bt brinjal.

04/13/2023 16

04/13/2023 17

TERMINATOR SEEDS

04/13/2023 18

04/13/2023 19

04/13/2023 20

Consumer Issues Food Safety

Allergenicity Negative effects on nutrients Introduction or increase of toxins

04/13/2023 21

Environmental Issues

Modified crop could become a weed, negatively effecting natural ecosystems.

Transgenes could spread to nearby relatives, negatively effecting natural ecosystems.

Direct or indirect negative effects on non-target organisms.

04/13/2023 22

SOCIOECONOMIC ISSUES

Negative effects on prices Increasing yield in regions where there is already a surplus can push down

prices, hurting farmers

Negative effects on small farms Many technologies are not scale neutral.

Negative effects on organic farms Increased resistance to Bt, an important tool to organic farmers

04/13/2023 23

HUMANITARIAN ISSUES The most important stakeholders in this whole debate are

those who are suffering from food shortages. Some 80,000 infants die every two days from the effects of

malnutrition. It is estimated that by 2020, farmers will have to produce 40%

more grain than they do know, despite little room for expanding agriculture onto new land.

04/13/2023 24

GLOBAL STATUS OF GM CROPS

04/13/2023 25

ANIMAL BIOETHICS

DOLION GLOFISH

04/13/2023 26

ANIMAL WELFARE THEORY Animal welfare is the theory which maintains that it is

morally acceptable to use nonhuman animals for human purposes as long as they are treated humanely and do not impose unnecessary suffering on them.

The goal of animal welfare is the regulation of animal use.

INDIAN ORGANISATIONS:

• The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI,Chennai)

• Buddha Society for Animal Welfare(BSAW,Bihar)

• Federation of Indian Animal Protection Authority

04/13/2023 27

ANIMAL RIGHTS THEORY The animal rights theory maintains that we have no

moral justification for using nonhuman animals for human purposes however humanely we treat them.

The goal of animal rights activists is to abolish the use of animals.

ORGANISATIONS: People for Ethical Treatment of Animals(PETA

India,Mumbai) Central Zoo Authority (CZA India, Delhi)

04/13/2023 28

SIGNIFICANCE Treating animals inhumanely results in economic costs.

Animal cruelty is against the law.

04/13/2023 29

FARMING ANIMALS Animals are used for meat, milk, fibre, pharmaceuticals,

research, companionship,exhibition.

REASONS BEHIND QUESTIONABLE PRODUCTION PRACTICES

Consumer demand: Safe, cheap, high quality, consistent food

Efficiency: Labor, distribution, price

Animal protection and care: From predators, environmental extremes, veterinary care, nutrition

04/13/2023 30

WELFARE IN CATTLE PRODUCTION

BRANDING DEHORNING

04/13/2023 31

DAIRY FACILITIES

04/13/2023 32

WELFARE IN POULTRY PRODUCTION Laying Hens: Beak trimming, crowding, dust bathing, forced

molting, social disorder

Broilers: Fast growth

04/13/2023 33

ANIMALS AS RESEARCH MATERIALS

04/13/2023 34

GM ANIMALS

AquaAdvantage salmon. A growth hormone-regulating gene from a Pacific Chinook salmon  and a promoter from an ocean pout inserted in atlantick salmon by AquaBounty.

 Genetically modified line of Yorkshire pigs with efficient  plant phosphorus digestion by phytase enzyme in saliva.University of Guelph.

Bioluminiscent lab rat,Stanford University,1997

04/13/2023 35

 Nexia Biotechnologies, and later by the Randy Lewis lab of the University of Wyoming and Utah State University.] It is reportedly 7-10 times as strong as steel if compared for the same weight, and can stretch up to 20 times its unaltered size without losing its strength properties. It also has very high resistance to extreme temperatures, not losing any of its properties within -20 to 330 degrees Celsius.

04/13/2023 36

ANIMAL CLONING

04/13/2023 37

CLONING Cloning is the process of making genetically identical organisms from a

single parent. Cloning could also help provide scientists with a better understanding of

some genetic diseases The cloning of genetically modified farm animals can have agricultural

and industrial advantages.For instance, genetically modified cows can produce milk with certain drugs inside for mass production.

Dolly (5 July 1996 – 14 February 2003) was a female domestic sheep, and the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer. She was cloned by Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and colleagues at the Roslin Institute, part of the University of Edinburgh, and the biotechnology company PPL Therapeutics near Edinburgh in Scotland, the United Kingdom. 

04/13/2023 38

RELIGIOUS ISSUES IN ANIML PRODUCTION Religious slaughter is a major current animal welfare issue.

Significant numbers of Muslim and Jewish people demand meat products from animals killed using practices according to religious requirements.

There are differences between conventional and religious slaughter practices. Although both methods have been subjected to criticism on animal welfare grounds, religious slaughter has received much recent attention.

04/13/2023 39

04/13/2023 40

04/13/2023 41

04/13/2023 42

04/13/2023 43

TEST TUBE MEAT

04/13/2023 44

04/13/2023 45

04/13/2023 46

04/13/2023 47

Current concerns about religious slaughter focus on stress of preslaughter handling using certain devices, pain and distress that may be felt during and after neck cutting, as well as prolonged times to loss of brain function and death if stunning is not applied.

Universally agreed correct religious slaughter rules and practices are still under debate, and certification and labeling of meat products remain as other issues to be addressed. Because of the above, moves to minimize welfare problems are under way to improve slaughter practices by providing more training and new regulations.

04/13/2023 48

DESIGNER MILK Modification of the primary structure of casein, alteration in the lipid profile, increased protein recovery, milk containing nutraceuticals, and replacement for infant formula offer several advantages in the area of processing. Less fat in milk, altered fatty acid profiles to include more healthy fatty acids such as CLA and omega-fats, improved amino acid profiles, more protein, less lactose, and absence of beta-lactoglobulin (beta-LG) are some opportunities of "designing" milk for human health benefits.

 Cow milk allergenicity in children could be reduced by eliminating the beta-LG gene from bovines. Animals that produce milk containing therapeutic agents such as insulin, plasma proteins, drugs, and vaccines for human health have been genetically engineered. 

04/13/2023 49

04/13/2023 50

The ultimate acceptability of the "designer" products will depend on ethical issues such as animal welfare and safety, besides better health benefits and increased profitability of products manufactured by the novel techniques

04/13/2023 51

HUMAN BIOETHICS

04/13/2023 52

ORGAN TRANSPLANT AND RESOURCES ALLOCATION

04/13/2023 53

ONE WHAT CRITERIA SHOULD ORGANS BE ALLOCATED TO PATIENTS FOR TRANSPLANTATION?

One heart available who should get it?

17-year old girl 40-year-old school principal 70-year-old woman

04/13/2023 54

xenotransplantation

The transplantation of organs, tissues, or cells from one species to another. Mainly from pigs to humans.

Every 12 minutes another name is added to the national organ transplant waiting list

18 people die per day - one person every 80 minutes

04/13/2023 55

BUT ITS NOT AN OPTION YET

04/13/2023 56

OVERCOMING REJECTION

Elimination of xenoreactive natural antibodies that bind to endothelial cells of pig organ.

Inhibition of complement produced by the antibodies – introduce protein into pig endothelial cells to prevent lysis of the cells.

Transgenic pigs with this protein have been produced and organs from these pigs usually do not undergo antibody rejection.

04/13/2023 57

OVERCOMING T CELL REJECTION

Main immunological barrier to successful xenotransplantation

Immunosuppression- greater organ survival time

Further genetic engineering of animal- number of genes may suppress the inflammatory response that causes this type of rejection

04/13/2023 58

PIGS MOST PROMISING DONORS Risk of transmission of viruses low Reach sexual maturity rapidly Multiple offspring per litter Insulin used to treat diabetes

04/13/2023 59

FEAR OF ZOONOSES Transmission of infectious agents from one species

to another

Spread of HIV and hepatitis through transplants from humans

Some diseases mild in animals but deadly to humans

04/13/2023 60

IN PROCESS Thousands of people have received living pig

tissues Insulin to treat diabetes Skin to treat burns, skin cancer Heart valves Liver cells to treat liver disease Islets to treat diabetes Neurons for Parkinson’s disease, stroke

Held back by stem cell research

04/13/2023 61

HUMAN CLONING Two techniques:

Embryo splitting Nuclear substitution

Embryo splitting

The clone is usually used for tests of abnormality, and will be destroyed subsequently

04/13/202362

04/13/2023 63

NUCLEAR TRANSFER

04/13/2023 64

04/13/2023 65

04/13/2023 66

04/13/2023 67

STEM CELL RESEARCH Stem cells: undifferentiated, multi-potent, precursor cells, capable

of developing into virtually any body tissue. Three types of stem cells:

Embryonic stem cells (ESC) Fetal stem cells Adult stem cells

04/13/2023 68

04/13/2023 69

STEM CELL RESEARCH ON DISEASES Independent Citizen’s Oversight Committee (ICOC) includes:

Spinal cord injuries about 35,000 cases in CA Alzheimer’s disease about 470,000 cases in CA Type II (adult) diabetes 10% of adults (20 and up) have it Multiple sclerosis in NorCal, 150 in 100,000 people have it Type I (juvenile) diabetes 1 in every 400-600

children/adolescents Heart disease #1 cause of death in US (12% of adults) Cancer #2 cause of death in US (7.4% of adults) Parkinson’s disease about 500,000 cases in US Mental illness 22% of Americans have mental disorders HIV/AIDS about 1 million cases of HIV in US

04/13/2023 70

04/13/2023 71

Three main sources: Adult bone marrow Miscarried or aborted embryos/fetus; extra embryos left over

from IVF Embryos from therapeutic cloning

Potential Treatments: They may be used to replace damaged organ tissues (e.g.,

cardiac tissues), repair irreversible injuries (e.g., spinal cord injuries), or cure diseases (e.g., Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases).

04/13/2023 72

04/13/2023 73

04/13/2023 74

04/13/2023 75

Ethical issues: Destroying an embryo to harvest ESC is

equivalent to killing a child to obtain his organs. Left-over from IVF are already there. Therapeutic cloning: The embryo is not created

for reproduction. How about the wellbeing of many patients who

may be cured by ESC research?

04/13/2023 76

Create unnecessary psychological distress Discrimination by employers and insurance

companies Confidentiality and Privacy Social stigmatization

04/13/2023 77

PRENATAL SCREENING

Sex selection: Gender discrimination and imbalance of sex ratio unless it is done solely for therapeutic purpose.

Discrimination: Lives of the disable are not worth living.

04/13/2023 78

IVF- IN VITRO FERTILISATION Available since 1986

About 100,000 IVF kids in U.S.

Often creates extra embryos

U.S. - About 400,000 frozen embryos (unregulated)

England – 52,000 (regulated by government

04/13/2023 79

04/13/2023 80

PRE IMPLANTATION GENETIC DIAGNOSIS (PGD)

Diagnosing inherited genetic disorders “in vitro” Choosing which embryos will be transferred to the uterus based

upon desired traits Gender decisions “Designer Babies?”

04/13/2023 81

DESIGNER BABIES AND ARCHITECT PARENTS

04/13/2023 82

04/13/2023 83

HOW ABOUT GIVING EVERY CHILD AN EQUAL CHANCE The Potential of Children

04/13/2023 84

04/13/2023 85

BIOLOGICAL WARFARE WEAPONS Anthrax

CutaneousInhalationIntestinal

Smallpox Botulinum toxin Bubonic plague

04/13/2023 86

CHEMICAL WARFARE WEAPONS Nerve gas agents

Sarin Tabun VX gas

Blistering agents Lewsite gas Mustard gas

Choking agents Chlorine Phosgene

04/13/2023 87

EFFECTS OF BIO-CHEMICAL WARFARE Muscle contractionAbdominal pains, severe diarrhoea Vomiting with blood Rashes and boils Flu like fever Blurred double vision Nausea Fever, loss of appetite, vomiting

Paralysis Skin blisters and burns Choking and cough leading to death Respiratory failure Formation of painless ulcers Seizures

04/13/2023 88

04/13/2023 89

EUTHANASIA

04/13/2023 90

04/13/2023 91

ENVIRONMENTAL BIOETHICS

Environment Your total surroundings; includes both biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) factors

04/13/2023 92

The body of moral principles or values followed by a person in regards to their total surroundings

SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT IS AN ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THE ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF LIFE ARE NEITHER LESSENED NOR DEPLETED.ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF LIFE:

OXYGEN, FOOD, WATER, NUTRIENTS, WARMTH, SHELTER,

UNSUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT IS AN ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH THE ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF LIFE ARE LESSENED OR DEPLETED.

04/13/2023 93

Traditional moral value pays attention to human relations, and does not

realize that the nature is the source of human life, while the people consider

the nature as the objects freely obtained and used.

Environmental ethics ask the human to establish a correct view of nature,

learn to respect, imitate, and protect nature, and get along amiably and

peacefully with the nature.

However, conservation of nature can not be one-sided emphasized without

enterprising, and then walking to other extreme.

04/13/2023 94

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS

Ethics with sustainable development asks us to observe and understand the world with ecological thinking, which is considered as the standard to survey the words and deeds, i.e. treatment of the ecological environment should follow the following principles.

basic principles of environmental

ethics

The principle of min harm

The principle of proportionality

The principle of coordination

The principle of moderate

consumption

The principle of distributive

justice

The principle of fair compensation

04/13/2023 95

6.5.2The essence of sustainable development

economical goal Pursue quality and efficiency

ecology -environment -resource goal

Emphasize for the benign circulation of system , coordinate development with

own bearing capacity

social goal Social justice, moderate growth of population

04/13/2023 96

Sustainable development is a new development strategy, and clear that the human is one member of nature center, rather than its center. The human must get along amiably and peacefully with the nature. The differences compared to traditional development model is

Green card: the differences between sustainable development and traditionaldevelopment model

material resources-motivated non-material resources-motivated

Simply pursue economic growth Simply pursue economic growth Coordinated development of economic and social environment Coordinated development of economic and social environment

Pay attention to local interests at present

Pay attention to long-term global interests

material-oriented material-oriented people-oriented people-oriented

traditional development modeltraditional development modelsustainable developmentsustainable development

04/13/2023 97

Global human population growth

Our population has skyrocketed

The agricultural and industrial revolutions drove population growth.

Figure 1.2

04/13/2023 98

Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) Population growth will lead to

starvation, war, disease.

Death rates check population unless birth rates are lowered.

In our day, Paul Ehrlich (The Population Bomb, 1968) is called “neo-Malthusian.”

Figure 1.3

04/13/2023 99

What is an “environmental problem?” Definitions differ.

The pesticide DDT:

was thought safe in 1945

is known to be toxic today

but is used widely in Africa to combat malaria

Figure 1.5

04/13/2023 100

Some questions in environmental ethicsShould the present

generation conserve resources for future generations?

Is is OK to destroy a forest to create jobs for people?

Is it OK for some communities to be exposed to more pollution than others?

Are humans justified in driving other species to extinction?

04/13/2023 101

Environmental Ethics

is concerned with the moral relationships between humans and the world around us. Do we have special duties, obligations, or responsibilities to other species or nature in general? Are our dispositions towards humans different than towards nature? How are they different? Are there moral laws objectively valid and independent of cultural context, history, situation, or environment?

04/13/2023 102

Three ethical worldviews

Figure 2.4

04/13/2023 103

DECISION MAKING AND ETHICS:‘ETHICAL REASONING’

1. Fact deliberation

2. Value deliberation

3. Duty deliberation

4. Testing consistency

5. Conclusion

04/13/2023 104

BIOETHICS- THE BRIDGE BETWEEN FACTS AND VALUES

During the second half of the 20th century, knowledge and technical power in biological sciences had been increasing continuously but reflection about the values at stake had not progressed in the same proportion.

04/13/2023 105

THE WEST ARGUED, THE AFRICANS DIED The cloning scenario is only highlight of a world wide

debate about genetic engineering of animals, vegetables and every thing except minerals

With religion, green fanaticism and trade interests getting involved, facts are hard to separate from agendas

The real biotech tragedy of 2002: Starvation deaths in Zambia – because of an US-EU row over providing biotech (cloned) corn for famine relief

04/13/2023 106

UNESCO’s 15 Bioethical principles

04/13/2023 107

ETHICS COMMITTEES

Conflicts often arise when people are entitled to decide and take part in decision-making processes

Conflicts are more frequent as respect for human freedom and moral diversity increases

Collective deliberation- the main purpose of ethics committees

04/13/2023 108

ANTI GMO ORGANISATIONS Green Peace( !971,Amsterdam,Netherlands)

Navdanya(1984,India,Uttarakhand)

Friends of the Earth international(1961,Amsterdam,Netherlands)

Alter tour(France)

Citizens Biotechnology Information Centre(Japan)

Council of Canadians(1985,Ottawa)

Institute of Science for Society(2009,Malaysia)

Centre for Food Safety(Pennsylvania,Washington DC)

GM watch centre(Japan)

Organic Consumers Association(1998,USA)

Gene Ethics Network(Australia)

Inter Environment

Earth Island Institute(1982,Berkeley,California)

International Council of Voluntary Agencies

04/13/2023 109

OGM Dangers(France)

GE Free Canada

Consumers Union of Japan

04/13/2023 110