Science and Technology

Science and Technology

1. Human Testing

   • Necessary for developing new drugs and safety of the public
   • Laws and regulations, must be honest about findings
   • Thalidomide case shows how testing can have unexpected, devastating effects
   • Informed consent must be given
     • Evil experiments, Nazi concentration camps and Russian poison testing, The monster experiment.
     • If not told and results in death or suffering could cause a public outrage
       • Hippocratic oath
     • Men injected had bad side effects
   • Burns victims willingly tested in war
     • Katie Piper

2. Animal Testing

   • Human rights group, PETA, object to testing because of consent
   • Can't give informed consent
   • Singer
     • Specieist
   • Christians may agree as they will be helping develop cures for human kind.
     • dominion over animals as stated in genesis
       • But we could be protectors?
       • Abraham and the Ram story shows that God puts humans first an animal may die to save one (also Passover)

3. Embryo Research

   • Stem cell use could find cures for diseases and to create organs etc.
     • Parkinson's disease and Alzeimers
     • therapeutic and reproductive cloning throw up different ethical issues
   • If life begins at conception then using the embryos as if disposable is murder
     • Church of England/ Catholic
   • Some religious groups may agree if it resulted in reproduction, natural law.

4. Cloning

   • Against the law to clone a human being, unethical.
     • What are a clones rights?
       • It's own person?
         • Treated differently, lower or higher would have bad concequences
       • How would they feel when they were told? Angry?