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The links above show a series of short videos that comprise an episode of Matter and Beyond called "Exploring Bioethics." Matter and Beyond is a local webcast/cable tv show in New Jersey. This episode when taken as a whole explains the main concerns and research that is emerging in the fairly new field of bioethics. I invite you to watch the videos for the best understanding of what it's all about.
Let me expand on what the field of bioethics is according to the initial research I've done through these videos. If a kindergarten explanation needs to be given, bioethics can be summed up in the idea of an open discussion among many different kinds of people about what's right and what's wrong in biomedical exploration. With the advent of genetic testing, cloning research, genetic engineering, and other lifesaving medical technologies becoming more ubiquitous, the questions of what's right and what's wrong seem to be on the minds of many. I often find myself asking this question at work (I work for a medical device company) as I learn of new and advanced medical products that I am helping to research and develop.
Taking a deeper look into the field of bioethics reveals even more questions that need to be answered. Many of the top researchers in this blossoming field were interviewed in the above videos. Rev. Dr. John Polkinghouse adds to the above definition of bioethics by saying that the research and discussion of bioethicists is helping to prevent the instrumentalizing of human beings. As was discussed in our study of Postman's book, Technopoly, the more sophisticated our medical devices and the more dependent we become on them, the less we look at patients as humans, and more as instruments to be experimented on. This is a great concern of Polkinghouse. I hope to review some of his own articles on bioethics.
Mark P. Aulisio was also interviewed in these videos. His main emphasis was the fact that bioethics need to guide our medical advances. We should not be asking what can we do, but rather what should we do when it comes to medical advances. Imagine advancing medicine without care or caution given to the human life and human nature. We need to set limits based on natural human processes, and not attempt to play God.
Jessica Wilen Berg offers a legal perspective to this question of bioethics. Bioethics has not fully been embraced by the law books, but she guesses that it will only be a matter of time before the law adopts some of its tenets, because these are things that are being discussed and dealt with day in and day out. As more and more lawsuits are filed against medical doctors and medical device companies, the law with have to consider and legislate ethics. Boundaries will eventually be written into law, and the battle of ethics and legality will begin all over again. This discussion is already brewing. It really is the heart of bioethics. What's legal or illegal? What's ethical and what's not?
Stuart J. Youngner describes the kind of people that are getting involved in these bioethical discussions. They come from all walks of life, every field of study one can imagine. The discussions are driven by medical technology. How long should we keep someone alive with machines? How hard should we try to alter natural life processes? How much money should we spend on medical technologies? These types of questions lend themselves to a variety of different people from different backgrounds answering the questions.
The concepts and questions introduced in the video only crack the surface of my study that will take place throughout the remainder of this semester. I will continue to study the words of the researchers above, and give many examples of real life dilemmas we are currently facing in the field of bioethics.
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