Transcript Document

The Bio-ethics
In this presentation……
Part 1 – Bio-ethical Issues
Part 2 – Bio-chemical Warfare
Part 3 – Patenting Problems
Part 4 – Bio-sciences & IPR
Part 5 – Future – Dark or Bright
Part
1
Bio-ethical Issues
Genetics and ethics
• The release of individual genomic
sequences could raise a number of
ethical issues such as
– Maintaining the confidentiality of genetic
code
– Insurance of individuals may be difficult
– Employment avenues could get bleak
– Selecting a life partner could be
cumbersome
Problems with introduction of
new technologies
• Patenting
• Intellectual property rights
• Human psychology
To do or not to do??…
• One nucleotide mistake in the 8000 pairs in a gene can
cause cancer such as BRCA1
• Pre-plantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a technique
wherein the genetic disease acquired from either
parent could be detected much before the embryonic
development takes place in the mother’s womb
• Whether to permit such diagnosis in future or not
remains a big question as this could lead to production
of test tube babies and clones in mass scale
People are divided on many issues
• Right to screen the embryo – genetically?
• Genetics should be only for medical
purposes?
• When fertilization is done on petri dish
through IVF then why not cloning?
• Should stem cell research that provides lot
of relief to patients (but can be catalytic for
artificial organ development) be banned?
Designer babies and architect parents
• Does the concept of designer babies seems logical?
• This could lead to designer babies and instantly
parents would become architects
• Producing kids would become a commercial activity
having more of “engineered” processes
• Presently, people strongly disagree to this
• Should we design children just as we
design/customize cars and houses?
• Shouldn’t we leave to God to decide for Himself??
Cloning
• The process of putting nucleus taken from any cell of
body into an embryonic/egg cell
• This is followed by a charged shock that joins the two
(nucleus containing the genetic material and the
nucleus in the egg)
• Thereafter, cells starts multiplying through cell
division, by mitosis, automatically
• Dolly, the sheep, is the first ever clone, died
prematurely
• Cloning can leave a number of ethical questions
unanswered in the 21st century
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
Part
2
Bio-chemical
Warfare
Biological warfare weapons
• Anthrax
– Cutaneous
– Inhalation
– Intestinal
• Smallpox
• Botulinum toxin
• Bubonic plague
Chemical warfare weapons
• Nerve gas agents
– Sarin
– Tabun
– VX gas
• Blistering agents
– Lewsite gas
– Mustard gas
• Choking agents
– Chlorine
– Phosgene
Effects of bio-chemical warfare
•
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Respiratory failure
Muscle contraction
Paralysis
Skin blisters and burns
Choking and cough
leading to death
• Formation of painless
ulcers
• Seizures
• Abdominal pains,
severe diarrhoea
• Vomiting with blood
• Rashes and boils
• Flu like fever
• Blurred double vision
• Nausea
• Fever, loss of appetite,
vomiting
Part
3
Patenting Problems
Issues with patenting
• New localized law based on the acceptance
of society/nation as well as the Govt.
• Global scenario to be kept in view
• Absurd ideas, techniques and material often
obtain patents without difficulty
– Patenting of BRCA1 (breast cancer) gene
– Neem and neem based products
– Basmati rice
Patent what??
• Patenting cosmetics, drugs, technology, etc.
is acceptable everywhere but not of
diseases, genes, air, water, etc.
• Especially the concept of patenting gene
sequences is raising eyebrows as it is an
absurd idea but a number of researchers and
drug companies are doing it
Patenting in EU
• The EU Biotech Directive
• The French Bioethics Bill
Part
4
Bio-sciences &
IPR issues
Patent vs. IPR
• The issue of patenting and that of
intellectual property rights should not
be intermingled together, though both
have a greater degree of overlapping
meaning
Some right some wrong
(kabhi ha kabni na)
• The fight will always go on – should the
technology and ideas be protected under IPR or
patenting
• Some decisions will prove to be correct and will
be acceptable, whereas some will not be accepted;
as happens with the introduction of every new
technology or concept
• Recall history of computers, space technology,
cloning, etc. for more information
Part
5
Genetically
Modified Crops
Genetically modified cotton
• Genetically modified (GM) Bt cotton
contains “Cry 1 Ac” gene
• Higher number of bolls, reduced number of
sprays for control of bollworms and higher
yields harvested so far
• Bt cotton is grown in Maharashtra, Gujarat,
MP, AP, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka
Genetically modified mustard
• If approved, Indian mustard will be the first
genetically-modified edible crop in India
• Packaging and labeling as per International
standards is impossible in India since
– Mustard leaves are sold as vegetables at every
street corner
– 90 percent of mustard oil is old loose in the
country
– Labeling and packaging will increase cost
How safe are the GM crops?
• Critics say that inserting genes into plants is a new
science and may have unforeseen side-effects on a
plant’s biochemistry, such as destroying its natural
qualities and creating natural imbalances
• Cross pollination between GM crops and nature
cause unwanted outcome
• It will also lead to creation of super-weeds, which
will be resistant to herbicides
Do we really need them?
• Contamination of environment
• Multinationals will hold monopoly on
hybrid seeds in the future
• Farmers will be forced to buy new seeds
from big corporations every year
• Even GM fodder/animal feed is in market
Terminator seeds
• Seeds that do not germinate, which means
they cannot be saved and planted again
• Hybrid seeds function almost the same way
Gene jumping
• It can result in transfer of genetically induced
traits of one organism to related species like
tomato, cabbage, radish, cauliflower
• Genetically engineered or modified plants
contain genes taken from bacteria, virus, other
plants or animals
• Examples
– Corn + scorpion
– Tomato + pig virus
– Cabbage + rat
Soyabean + cow
Strawberry + fish
Rice + human
Part
6
Future –
Dark or Bright
What to do next…
• Present day focus is mainly on life style drugs and
diseases like can cancer, AIDS, diabetes, etc.
• There are numerous other areas and diseases
waiting to be explored
• Diabetes, cancer and heart disease has remained
the biggest concerned of 20th century and a
greatest challenge for 21st century
What is coming in near future…
• Development of specific organs such as
eyes, heart, kidney, etc. is already around
the corner and “spare organs” would be
available in about 5-6 years time
• The human cloning activity is under process
and very soon we may hear about its
success, on lines similar to Dolly, the sheep
Future bio-computing or
bioinformatics
• Highly sophisticated software for
– Mining genetic data of numerous species
– Efficient analysis tools
• Massive servers and cluster computers
(clusters of 1000 and above computers)
• High performance standalone computers
• Massive storage devices (of the order of
hundreds of TB)
Behold! The future is…
• Very soon a newly born baby shall be discharged
from the hospital with a CD containing the DNA
sequence for the entire genome
• It would become possible to detect genetic disorders
at any stage of life and checked whether they have
any hereditary links or not
• It is sure to find these concepts realized but it may
take some time to bring them to reality
• In another 30-40 years, people would be able to see
and browse through their genomic sequence
Future risks
• Difficulty in maintaining the confidentiality of
genetic code as there would be lot of problems with
publicly available DNA sequences of individuals
• Insurance companies may ask for this “unique”
code or at least a clear analysis report hereafter
• Employment avenues may become much bleak if
the code contains any damage, as resumes may
contain a clear analysis report
• Physically and mentally impaired persons may find
it extremely difficult to function in a high
competitive “engineering” environment
Future risks
• Imparting and pursuing education would grow more
difficult with bio-sciences and genomic sciences
occupying compulsory position in the curriculum
• Genetic based racism would increase due to the
ability to cluster the people on the basis of genomic
data
• Bio-terrorism will also have a new chapter added to
it in the form of genomic terrorism wherein it would
be possible to manipulate with others genetic data or
actual genes
Future risks
• Selecting a life partner could be cumbersome as it
would become possible to compare the sequences
before marriage and properties of likes-dislikes
could be easily established
• Many states have already made matrimonial
registration mandatory, which includes a HIV/AIDS
clearance certificate of both partners
Scientific work bring forward both
good and bad issues. They have to be
dealt with by everyone keeping in
view other dimensions such as
logical, ethical and legal
It is a fact that…
• Till some stability is obtained, we have to
take risks, only then we would know of the
outcome; or else how do we know about the
outcome or how do the field grow
• As long as it is not known as to what gene
will do what, all medical treatments can not
be assured
But still…
Elders say that the future is perfect!!!