Bioethics Case Studies?

Question

I have to do a project for my Biology class on Bioethics and I'm having trouble finding cases. I already did gene therapy last semster, so I cannot do that topic again. I have one topic on organ donation, though I need one more. I need cases that are not well-known. Things like cloning, abortion, and that kind of idea will not work. Does anyone know of any good case studies? Thanks.

Answer 1

I have to do these case studies a lot in my Biotechnology class. Here are a few that I have done. They aren't actual cases, but an idea.

1. A couple collects and freezes the wife's age so as to allow them to continue their careers to be financially stable for children later. They divorce, and there are six frozen eggs. Who gets the eggs? The woman wishes to destroy them, and the man wishes to keep them for use as they may be his only chance for children. Keep in mind that the eggs are the woman's genetic material, but that they signed for the egg storage jointly.

2. Who owns the patent on the genetic code for your proteins?
With the completion of the Human Genome Project, it is likely that all people will have their DNA sequenced in the future. This would create a "DNA fingerprint," The question is, who should have access to this? Who decides who has access? Is this information that should be kept quiet, or be available to the public like our tax information?
Should medical authorities, insurance agencies, the military, prospective spouses, or employers have access to your genetic fingerprint? Should some have access, and not others?
Should scientists working in gene therapy have access to it? Should you be able to collect payment if your fingerprint is used to correct faulty or inferior DNA?

Let me know if you need more help! I thought these were interesting. The second can be narrowed down quite a bit!

Answer 2

There are ALOT of ethical issues involved in IVF, such as ownership, age etc, one which you might find interesting is "saviour siblings" where a child is created for the purpose of saving an existing child's life. It's very controversial, but also quite interesting. Another case I recall is of a deaf couple wanting to give birth to a deaf child and the resulting debate.

Answer 3

I can find no positive reason to break patient confidentiality in this case.

Answer 4

try killing of animals just for sport and not for food