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Chapter Six: Genetic Engineering, Stem Cell Research, and Human Cloning. Applying Ethics: A Text with Readings (10 th ed.) Julie C. Van Camp, Jeffrey Olen, Vincent Barry Cengage Learning/Wadsworth. What is Genetic Engineering?. Scientific alterations in human possibilities Gene Therapy
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Chapter Six:Genetic Engineering, Stem Cell Research, and Human Cloning Applying Ethics: A Text with Readings (10th ed.) Julie C. Van Camp, Jeffrey Olen, Vincent Barry Cengage Learning/Wadsworth
What is Genetic Engineering? • Scientific alterations in human possibilities • Gene Therapy • Stem cell research • Human cloning • Scientific alterations in animal and plant life • Modified grains tolerant of disease and drought • Cloned animals
Why clone humans? • Creating replacement tissue (spare parts) • Producing a fully developed human being for infertile couples • Reproducing outstanding humans in history
Moral and Legal Issues of Cloning • Do people have a right to reproduce by any available means? • Do other societal concerns override any such rights? • Will there be harmful effects on the cloned twin? • How will family relationships be redefined? • Could persons be cloned without their consent? • Would cloning be immoral because it is “unnatural”?
Stem Cell Research • Ethical Issues overlap cloning and abortion issues • Adult stem cell research is less controversial but does not hold as much promise for treatment of disease • Another issue: whether federal funding is appropriate or whether this research should be funded only with private funds, due to the ethical controversy
“The Case against Perfection” Michael J. Sandel • Ethical issues presented by rapid developments in technology • Inadequate:familiar appeals to autonomy, fairness, individual rights • Must consider moretraditional questions, which verge on theology • Moral status of nature • Proper stance of human beings toward the given world
“Moral Status of Cloning Humans”Michael Tooley • There is nothing intrinsically immoral about human cloning • No one has a right to a genetically unique nature • Cloning does not restrict the open future of individuals • Cloning promises to be very beneficial to society • Happier and healthier individuals • Solution to infertility • Saving lives
“The Morality of Killing Human Embryos”Bonnie Steinbock • Controversy over embryonic stem cell research is similar to that over abortion: • When does human life begin? • What is the moral status of the human embryo? • Review of different approaches to “moral status” • Conclude: permissible to use human embryos in research as they lack moral status
“Stem Cells, Biotechnology, and Human Rights: Implications for a Posthuman Future”Paul Lauritzen • Too much narrow focus on stem cell research, whether embryonic or adult • Instead, focus on • prospect of transforming the contours of human life • our attitudes toward the natural world