Biomedical Engineering Ethics: The Four Types Of Human Enhancements

CRISPR technology can allow us to start selecting our own superpowers. Technology is constantly evolving, and this allows for more advance research and altering of DNA which opens a door of possibilities and opportunities. Genetic engineering is the process of using technology to change the genetic makeup of an organism. Genetic engineering is one of the processes which can be used with CRISPR to modify the genes and DNA. Genetic engineering has three elements that are required for the process to occur: the gene to be transferred, a host cell which the gene can be inserted, and a vector (An organism or chemical used to transport a gene into a new host cell) to allow the transfer.

1. Is it ‘Right’? When genetic engineering first became possible, peoples’ first reactions were to immediately question whether it was ‘right’? Many religions believe that genetic engineering, after all, is tantamount to playing God, and expressly forbid that it is performed on their children, for instance. Besides the religious arguments, however, there are a number of ethic objections.

The four principles of biomedical ethics serve as the foundation of decision-making for healthcare professionals. There has been significant debate over which principle is most important to consider for achieving the best health outcome for patients. In this paper, I will argue why no single principle is more important than the other. My primary argument is to demonstrate multiple instances where a different principle is most important, which would imply that no single principle is most importance across all possible cases. Furthermore, I will interpret outcomes as they relate to the improvement in a patient’s health or condition.

Modern medical professionals and practitioners vary their diagnosis and method of practice based on what has been proven and tested clinically on the pursuit to attain the betterment of each individual and its community. Medical professionals conduct and prescribe their treatment based on what is ethical and acceptable in every aspect. However, several issues as to what ethical or unethical measures should be done have been raised regarding medical experiments especially those whose subjects were humans. It is criticized that the data are being obtained immorally and judged with culpability. A lot of issues have to be taken into consideration as well such as the scientific validity of the experiments done, the competency of the experimenters and the social utility in using the experimental data.

The study took a look at publicly paid for animal tests in the United States and the United Kingdom. The scientists used monkeys and rodents as their primary test subjects. Nearly 300 reports were collected from leading biomedical research publishers. Out of all of the acquired publications, only 59% of them proclaimed their study’s goal, the amount of animals that they used, and important traits of their test subjects. All of these factors are expected to be made public in order to display a credible and successful scientific experiment (Kilkenny et al. 3).

Disabled individuals have always fallen short when it comes to opportunities and inclusion in sports compared to non-disabled people. These individuals either have no confidence to play sports, or lack the resources to access it. Whether it is a physical or mental disability, people living with these situations look down upon themselves and feel as if they are not good enough or capable of playing sports. As a result, people put up barriers in their mind thinking that they will never be able to play sports again, and to make matter worse, the amount of resources to accommodate the disabled in sports is also greatly lacking. However, these barriers are gradually being removed, resulting in more involvement from the disabled in sports.

A new technology is being created every day in this fast growing world, and a majority of them are helping the human society in some way shape or form. Technologies today are being created to have multifarious effects that will help improve the quality of humanity. But, with all good things there will be some “unintended consequences … and revenge effects” as stated by Tenner who suggests that there was no human invention ever that completely fulfilled its intended uses or completely ignore the unintended effects (Tenner). Tenner reaches his conclusion about the revenge effects by referring to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.

Animal Testing Imagine being locked up in a cage and having no control over anything in your life. You can’t choose what to eat, if you want children, your partner, really anything at all. What if you had to spend your entire life like this. Being alone, poisoned, burned, cut, starved, drowned, blinded, and brain-damaged. This happens to hundreds of animals every day.

I am the opposition and I am opposed to human experimentation. I strongly believe that human experimentation is erroneous. There have been many experiments that have gone terribly wrong, and were pointless. Countless people have died during these pointless experiments, and were often never told about the consequences. Human experimentation is very risky, too.

Tragic Testing More than 100 million animals are used in medical laboratories for testing in the United States per year. The grim reality of animal testing is barbaric and horrifying. These animals do not have a voice to refuse such unethical treatment against their will. Testing on animals has been conducted for numerous decades with only little improvement for the environment in which these animals maintain their survival. Therefore, it is up to humans to fight for animal rights.