Bioethics in Daily Life

1. Bioethics in Daily Life Day 12 Prof. Connie J. Mulligan Department of Anthropology

2. This week Animal cognition/animal rights Animal exploitation Vegetarianism and other uses of animals Animal experimentation Animal cognition/what separates us from other animals? Reading Bioethics at the Movies Chpt 4 (The Babe vegetarians: Bioethics, animal minds, and moral methodology) “ Wanted: Intelligent aliens, for a research project”, Olivia Judson, New York Times, Sept 30, 2008 Video – Babe Oral presentations (quest for a good life/death) For/Against memory deletion as a means of happiness For/Against other technological/pharmaceutical interventions as a means of happiness

3. Next week Sample collection for research Informed consent issues Collection of samples from impoverished people/people from developing countries Return of samples Return of skeletal remains/archaeological artifacts Right/responsibility to participate in research Reading DNA returned to tribe, raising questions about consent, Science, April 30, 2010 Researchers to return blood samples to the Yanomamo, Science, June 4, 2010 Iceland: The case of a national human genome project, Anthro Today, Oct, 1999 Grave disputes, Science, Oct 8, 2010, 330:166 Science education: Research on the reservation, Nature, March 2, 2011, 471:25-26 Of HeLa and human lives, Science, Feb 26, 2010, 327:1081 Taking the least of you, The New York Times, April 16, 2006 Video – Gene Hunters Oral presentations (animal cognition/animal rights) For/Against vegetarianism Huge/small difference between us and other animals

4. Final paper • Paper – 100 pts • In-depth analysis of a bioethical issue of your choice • There must be a clear biological aspect to the issue and you must explain the science and how it relates to your chosen bioethical issue, in addition to developing the bioethical issue • Class is Bioethics in Daily Life • Could be more broadly technological, but be sure to say you know this is not biological content • I gave ideas for biological content in some of last week’s group projects so you know what I’m talking about. Feel free to email me if you’re unsure about the biologically scientific content of your paper. • You must include at least 3 scientific peer-reviewed articles • The expected length ~3000 words, or ~5-7 single-spaced pages.

5. Class poll • How many are vegetarians?

6. Class poll • How many are vegetarians? • How many eat beef and pork?

7. Class poll • How many are vegetarians? • How many eat beef and pork? • How many eat veal?

8. Class poll • How many are vegetarians? • How many eat beef and pork? • How many eat veal? • How many eat dolphin?

9. Class poll • How many are vegetarians? • How many eat beef and pork? • How many eat veal? • How many eat dolphin? • How many eat chimpanzee?

10. Animal rights • Yesterday’s Science - Lawyer and legal scholar Steven Wise is suing to give chimps and dolphins certain basic rights on basis that they meet requirements for legal personhood, not property • Concerned about small cages/aquaria, but bigger implications • In 1998, Wise lost a case for a dolphin named Kama to sue the New England Aquarium to prevent being transferred to a Navy marine mammal facility • In 2004, San Francisco judge ruled that whales, porpoises, and dolphins did not have legal standing to sue the Navy to stop allegedly harmful sonar testing • In both cases, judges ruled that only “persons” can sue under federal law • Similarities to giving slaves and robots rights as ‘people’ http://www.sciencemag.org/content/332/6025/30.full

11. What has animal testing done for medical advances?

12. What has animal testing done for medical advances? • Late 1880s - diphtheria vaccine was tested in animals and essentially eliminated disease • 1920s – isolation of insulin from dogs and cattle to save human diabetics • 1940s-1960s – polio vaccine (Salk and Sabin ‘live’) tested in monkeys • ~ eradicated disease by 1965 & ~100,000 Rhesus macaques killed • Therapeutic use of penicillin – tested in mice • Organ transplantation • Heart transplantation – tested in dogs • Most drugs, vaccines, painkillers, anesthetics, surgery, etc can’t be tested in tissue culture & don’t want to go straight to humans without some animal testing en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_animal_testing, wildcat.arizona.edu/2.2255/animal-testing-necessary-in-medical-research-1.169288

13. What has animal testing done for medical advances? • Horror stories of lack of animal testing • In 1983, Vitek exploited a loophole in FDA regulations to bring a synthetic jaw implant to market without adequate testing (10,000s people received it) • Vitek's implant fragmented in patients' jaws, triggering a chemical reaction that literally eroded away their jawbones • 1984 study in dogs found that the implants disintegrated in the canine test subjects and lead to jaw erosion akin to that seen in human patients

14. Video

15. Discussion • Animals are anthropomorphized in Babe, e.g. they can talk • Is this ‘unfair’ or does it serve a purpose?

16. Animal cognition • PARROT INTELLIGENCE: DR. PEPPERBERG with AFRICAN GREYS GRIFFIN, ALEX & EINSTEIN • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_Fpad20Zbk&feature=player_embedded

17. Chimp cognition and behavior • Cooperation and its limitations • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mv8rfJmCPk&feature=related

18. Discussion • What kind of intelligence or cognition or language or emotions do animals have?

19. Discussion • What difference does an animal’s intelligence, language, emotions, etc make? • If you’re not a vegetarian, what would make you change?

20. Bottom line • What do you think are good rules for eating animals? • For using animals in research?

21. Next week’s oral presentations • Oral presentations (animal cognition/animal rights) • For/Against vegetarianism • Huge/small difference between us and other animals