Discussion of Biology: Science and Ethics - Essay Example

Biology Table of Content Questions Assignment Discussion of Biology: Science and Ethics How do ethics and moral rules fit into science Should scientists be held accountable to make ethical decisions in a social context Why or why not What about animal rights Is it ethical to use animals in scientific experiments Is it ethical to use humans as experimental subjects For example: 1. Is it ethical to infect a few people with a deadly disease to study its effects in the hopes of saving many more lives in the future How do you justify your answer 2. Is it ethical to take a canary into a coal mine so that, if it dies from toxic gases, miners would be warned to evacuate How do you justify your answer 3. Is it ethical to test a new drug on rats (or cats) before giving it to humans How do you justify your answer Assignment 2 Discussion: The Case of Rosalind Franklin How would you describe Watson's use of Franklin's data Was it robbery or just an innocent look at her data Were his actions justified in any case What about the criticisms of Franklin Can we monitor potentially discriminatory behavior without restricting academic freedom Assignment 3 Discussion: Issues of Human Genetics What are the pros and cons of genetic testing and gene therapy Are there dangers in genetic research that we should be aware of Will the human genome project ultimately benefit us How or why not Should we be allowed to alter the gene pool of populations What ethical issues are involved and where do you stand on these issues. Assignment 4 Discussion: Issues of Evolution & Disease How would you answer people who say, "I reject the possibility of evolution because evolution is only a theory; it's not a proven scientific fact" Why have disease organisms evolved Why do human diseases continue to exist Shouldn't they be eliminated by now according to Darwin's survival of the fittest Assignment 5 Discussion: Issues of Human Variation Do human races exist Will changing biological concepts of race diminish racism Why or why not How do we account for the many observed human variations if we reject the concept of human races Assignment 6 Discussion: Overpopulation & Related Issues What is the "population explosion" Does the United States or your home country need to be concerned about the impact of overpopulation Can we diminish population growth and its impact How Should we use these technologies to control the birth rate What are the cultural and ethical issues related to population control methods Assignment 7 Discussion: Issues of Sociobiology Why should humans be interested in the social behavior of animals Are animal studies relevant at all to the study of human behaviors Please elaborate on your position on this topic Assignment 1 Discussion of Biology: Science and Ethics Every society has its moral codes and values. These moral codes are called ethics. They help society to differentiate between right and wrong. These moral rules should be implemented in every walk of life. They can not be ignored in certain special cases. It is quite important to consider ethical values, rights and wrongs in the field of Science as well. There should be certain limitations for conducting scientific experiments and testing. There is a continuous debate going on in the modern societies about the limitations of scientific experimentation and testing. But everybody agrees that ethical values can not be ignored in science. As far as classification of moral codes is concerned they can be classified into two major categories according to consequences considerations. These two categories are Deontological ethics and Utilitarian ethics. In first category the validity of any action are judged according to religious teachings and rights and entitlements of various entities without considering the consequences. Whereas in second category validity is judged according to implications and consequences of any action. Scientists have to make certain ethical decision for experimentation and testing. Most of the decisions are made according different ethical systems by creating consensus. These decision are made for benefit of majority of the society. But for getting the desired results rights of few individuals are willfully violated on the pretext that it will help the cause of majority. The examples of human and animal use in scientific experiment is also justified on the basis of these ethical systems. It is argued that if few animals or human beings are temporarily or permanently affected then a vast majority of the people is benefited. Although this argument is correct to some extent but it should not cross certain limits. There are various historical evidences that humanity has got rid of many deadly diseases because of these experiments. But once said that we should not forget the human or animal subject should not be brutalized or experimented for minor benefits with limited scope. For example testing of animals for cosmetics is widely criticized. The animal rights should also not be ignored while using the animals for toxicological testing. Some scientists also argue that if some animals are sacrificed then others are provided better living conditions. Assignment 2 Discussion: The Case of Rosalind Franklin The Incident James Watson was at Harvard University in 1962. He received the Nobel Prize for his discoveries and research on the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material. Watson could not have proposed the structure for DNA as early in 1953 without access to experimental results obtained by King's College scientist Rosalind Franklin. Franklin died in 1958 and could not receive the honor. Because of her absence from the awards ceremony she could was not credited for several decades, of her role in the DNA story. Conclusion After going through the details of above incident one can not arrives at a correct conclusion without considering few important factors. 1. The most important factor is the intention of Watson. It is important to know that Watson intentionally ignored the contribution of Franklin or not. If he did that intentionally then it was clearly dis-honesty. But if it was not intentional then it can be ignored because of the implication of that discovery. 2. The series of events show that Watson did not want to acknowledge the contribution of at any stage in the beginning. Even he did not mention about the contribution of Franklin in Nobel award ceremony. But later he was compelled to acknowledge it. 3. If the importance of that discovery may be considered then it can be said that if Watson and his associate Crick would not have used the data of Franklin then that very important discovery would not have occurred. So one can say that even if the intentions of Watson were dubious but yet the discovery benefited the humanity. Assignment 3 Discussion: Issues of Human Genetics Genetics is one of the most important branch Biology. Many significant developments and discoveries have taken place in the field of genetics. They have proved very useful and beneficial for the humanity. But every field of science has some positive and negative aspects as well. Most of the discoveries of genetics have benefited human being, treatment and prevention of many deadly diseases are only possible because of genetic testing. Many medicine like insulin has been produced by using genetically engineered bacteria. Most Genetic testing raises many new ethical issues in medical decision- making. For example these genetic testing may affect whole life process even the offspring of the testees. If the individual genotype is altered can also prove counter productive in certain cases in recombinant DNA therapy. Altering the gene pool of population can also prove dangerous. It can prevent certain geneotypes from breeding resulting in genocide. Cloning is also matter of great concern before the legislature in developed countries. They are still divided and undecided to legalize cloning or not. Even human cloning is being considered by some scientist. Although cloning has proved useful to some extent but yet it has many negative implications. Positive Eugenics and negative Eugenics, Phenocoies are also matter of great concern. These are the most matters to be decided by the authorities in developed countries. They do not have to consider just their interests but they should consider their consequences in long run without any prejudice. Assignment 4 Discussion: Issues of Evolution & Disease The theories of evolution were presented before Darwin too. But the theory presented by Darwin emphasized Branching descent. It explained the facts of geographic distribution much better than any previous theory. It was felt that the teachings of evolution were eroding people's faith. A movement was started to outlaw the teaching of evolution. The supporters of this movement were mostly Protestants who called themselves Fundamentalists. Apart from Darwin theory. There are good evidences that evolution continues to take place. There are new foods available according increasing needs of mankind. New diseases are being discovered whereas old diseases are also present and increasing. Evolution is continuously going on wherever natural selection takes place. Many examples can be presented in favour of this theory Higher mortality among low birth weight babies Higher sensitivity of certain blood groups to certain diseases. Higher incidence of certain cancers in people with certain genotypes. All above examples and facts are enough to prove that evolution is just a theory. These evidences show that its major portion can be proved easily. But some portions of the theory can not proved now and may not be proved in future. The disease organisms evolved because they got favourable conditions and they could not be eliminated by human beings completely. But some of them have been completely eliminated (survival of fittest). The human diseases continue to exist because still their complete cure or elimination method has not been discovered, whereas some of the deadly diseases have been completely eliminated. Assignment 5 Discussion: Issues of Human Variation In modern science population is defined in terms of interbreeding. Human variation takes place within populations in same geographical conditions. But the migrations and inter-mixing of populations of various regions changed the scenario. It can takes place in measured characteristic like skin pigmentation, height etc. Various characteristics diversify geographically. Politically and socially created races are based on Language, physical features etc. The characteristics of opposite so called race are considered inferior. But some races are and were defined according to the morphology of a certain group. These races were created for gaining social and material advantage over other groups of populations differed on the basis of their physical features. Another theory of no-races also exists. It is based on the concept on the evils resulting from past and current racial conflicts as arguments against recognizing any racial groupings at all. The believer of this concept say that racial groupings makes no sense biologically. Variation on the basis of different biological and social characteristics geographically is a fact. But it is not enough to divide human beings into different races. The biological variations are given to different groups of populations for coping with different climate conditions in different geographical regions. These variations also help in adaptation. On the basis of biological arguments given above it can be said that human races do not exist. It can be expected that on the basis of changing biological concepts of race racism will diminish. The argument for human variation is given above that these variation are given for coping with the specific environmental conditions of geographical regions. Assignment 6 Discussion: Overpopulation & Related Issues The Malthus theory regarding population has proved irrelevant. Although population has increased many fold but the projected misery and starvation can not be seen anywhere. There is no doubt that people are suffering from starvation in some African countries but it is because of unjust economics system. If the over all food availablity is calculated in whole world it can be concluded that availability of food is more than enough, but is not justly distributed. But because of apprehension of starvation and reduction in standard of living various contraceptive methods are used all over the world. Major world bodies advocate and support birth control. These bodies facilitate methods of birth control and even abortions. Various technologies are being used for contraception. These birth control methods have been effective at controlling the size of populations to some extent. Although they are widely used. It is also suggested by various studies that by educating women birth rate can be controlled. Efforts are being done to educate women in those areas where population growth rate is alarmingly higher There are other negative impacts of population growth as well. It creates many shortages, reduce the effectiveness of services. Rapid increase in urban areas has made life quite difficult in various urban centers in under developed countries. Despite all these facts, contraceptive methods are not liked in various societies. Religious people do not approve these practices. Assignment 7 Discussion: Issues of Sociobiology Social behavior can be defined as behavior that affects other individuals. Thus Sociobiology is the contemplation of social behavior other species and also of same species. Study of animal behavior and instincts is quite important for the learning process. It can benefit learner in different ways. As the most of instincts are quite similar in same species. Learner or researcher can not make any mistake while learning or researching. Animal are useful and harmful for humans in many ways. Some of the important beneficial and harmful uses of animals are: Most of cattle are useful for fulfilling the food requirements. So study of the behaviour and instincts of these animals is vital. Study of behaviour of wild animals is also important it provides precious knowledge that can be used for different fruitful activities. Study of microbes like bacteria, viruses and fungi is also important to learn about their life cycle, structure so that harms caused by them could be minimized. Even some of them could be used for benefits of mankind. Apart these and many other benefits the study of social behaviour of animals is also important for understanding human behaviour. For example Savanna baboons have a social organization that forms males dominance system in which they do many activities resembling human beings. Study of such animals help social biologist to understand the behaviour of human beings. Work Cited ELI C. MINKOFF. PAMELA J. BAKER., "BIOLOGY TODAY AN ISSUES APPROACH", THIRD EDITION, Read More