Bioethics in the Molecular Life Sciences and Medicine 

New developments in biotechnology and biomedical science create the need to address ethical, legal and policy issues that result as a consequence of scientific advancement. Several agencies and committees in the governmental and private sector have been established to assess specific bioethical issues and to make recommendations. Bioethics Centers have emerged at several universities that are involved in scholarly research and training in bioethics. Students with an interest in bioethics can easily access an extensive array of resources via the web. For example, sites may include information on careers in bioethics, discussions of specific ethical dilemmas that have received extensive public debate, or hypothetical case studies that may be useful for a student preparing for medical school or other professional program.

Some of the projects, committees and courses in ethics at the University of Wyoming are listed below. As an introduction to current areas in bioethics, a list of key areas and resources are also provided for students beginning their exploration of bioethical topics. These listings are by no means comprehensive but are designed to provide a starting point for students interested in bioethics.

Ethics at the University of Wyoming

COURSES

Although ethical discussions are embedded in many courses taught at UW, some departments offer courses designed to focus specifically on ethical aspects of the discipline:

Philosophy

Several introductory and advanced ethics courses are offered in the Dept. of Philosophy (e.g. “Ethics in Practice,” designed for preprofessional students; “Environmental Ethics,” focused on environmental dilemmas). Also, a Minor in Ethics is offered for students who wish to enhance their appreciation of ethical issues in any discipline. 

Business

The College of Business has two major initiatives: the Business Ethics Education Program and the Bill Daniels Chair of Business Ethics, currently held by Richard McGinity.

The Daniels Fund has established a $3 million endowment for this chair. )

Law, Criminal Justice

Course in ethics in the administration of justice: ethical theory is applied to contemporary issues in law enforcement.

Nursing

Course in bioethical issues in decision-making in nursing

Pharmacy

Seminar course focused on contemporary ethical issues in the practice of pharmacy.

UW Research Office listed course on Research Ethics:

CITI course in the Responsible Conduct of Research; Free public access courses on the web in Biomedical; Social and Behavioral Research; Physical Sciences; and Humanities are available to the research community.

KAISER ETHICS PROJECT

This is a 3-year project that was started in 2006 and funded by the Curt Kaiser Foundation. The project was designed to encourage development of ethics content for new or existing courses at the University of Wyoming.

ETHICAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEES

IRB (Institutional Review Board for Projects Involving Human Subjects)
IACUC (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee)

Bioethics Areas

Although the field of bioethics includes many diverse topics, some of the current areas of interest are:

History:
     Bioethics in Research and Medicine
Research Ethics:
     Scientific Integrity
     Human Subjects; Animal Subjects
     Nuremberg Code, Helsinki Declaration, Belmont Report
Genetic Testing:
     Gene testing in preimplantation diagnosis, prenatal, newborns, children, adults
     Forensic genetic testing
     Pharmacogenetics in medicine
     Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA)
Gene Transfer:
     Human Somatic Gene Therapy
     Human Germline Genome Modification
     Genome modification for enhancement vs. therapeutic goals
     Biotechnology in Agriculture
Biological Materials:
     Stem cells
     Therapeutic Cloning
     Reproductive Cloning
Legal and Policy Issues:
     Human Health Policy
     Aging and End-of-Life
     Patenting of genes and other biological materials
     Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA)
Specific Bioethical Issues:
     Bioethical case studies and tutorials
     Careers in Bioethics

Selected Bioethics Resources

Many of these web sites maintain updated links to other bioethics resources.

U.S. GOVERNMENT SITES:

National Institutes of Health Bioethics resources:
     Bioethics Journals
     Careers in Bioethics
     Academic Centers & Programs
National Human Genome Research Institute (NIH)
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
President’s Council on Bioethics

ORGANIZATIONS:

Genetics and Public Policy Center
Council for Responsible Genetics
American Medical Association
American Nurses Association Code of Ethics
Bioethics for Clinicians (Canadian Medical Association page dedicated to aid physicians in incorporating bioethics into their daily practice.)
The American Journal of Bioethics: Page incorporates journal access and bioethics news and current issues.

BOOKS:

Beauchamp T & Childress J (2001) Principles of Biomedical Ethics, Oxford University   
     Press, Oxford. (Introduction to ethical decision-making.)
Gilbert  SF, Tyler AL, & Zackin EJ. (2005) Bioethics and the New Embryology. W. H.
     Freeman & Company, Gordonsville, VA. (Ethics of human reproductive technology
     and stem cells).
Mappes TA & Degrazie D. (2007) Biomedical Ethics. McGraw-Hill Publishing.
Steinbock B. (2007) The Oxford Handbook of Bioethics. Oxford University Press,
     Oxford.
Steinbock B, London, AJ & Arras JD. (2008) Ethical Issues in Modern Medicine:
     Contemporary Readings in Bioethics.

OTHER RESOURCES:

International bioethics sites: Bioethical discussions may be quite different in various cultural settings.

Genome glossary from the DOE Human Genome Program

Please submit comments/suggestions to Dr. Pamela J Langer, Dept. Molecular Biology, Univ. Wyoming, Langer@uwyo.edu. Page updated July 2, 2008.

This site is maintained by Randy L. Anderson.