Biotechnology Flashcards
Define biotechnology
Any technological system that uses biological systems, living organisms or derivatives thereof to make or modify products for specific uses
Why do the ethical concerns with biotechnology applications
- Public attitudes
2. Consumer acceptance
Name 6 current biotechnology applications
- understanding genes
- research models of human diseases
- providing organs and tissues for human transplants
- Productions of therapeutic compounds (pharming)
- Stem cell research
- Therapeutic and reproductive cloning
List three highly controversial issues associated with biotechnology
- GMO and transgenic animals
- Stem cell research
- Human and animal cloning
List the two main intrinsic concerns associated with biotechnology
Religious concerns
Respect for nature
What are some of the extrinsic concerns with biotechnology
Risks, applications and predictions
What are some of the benefits associated with GM crops?
- Potential to alleviate poverty and hunger
- Reduced use of insecticides
- Use of more environmentally friendly insecticides
What are some of the concerns associated with GM crops?
- transgenes could spread to other crops
- possibility of the creation of superweeds and resistant insects, viruses, bacteria and fungi
- Are they bad for us?
Explain how biotechnology could be beneficial to animal welfare
- increased resistance
- decrease in undesirable practices such as the destruction of day old chicks
- protecting an endangered species from extinction
What is ‘pharming’?
medical and agricultural cloning
What are some of the uses of animal cloning?
- Production of human proteins and tissues
- protection of endangered species
- can replace lost animals (but not lost habitats)
What are some of the concerns associated with animal cloning?
- Does not respect the uniqueness and individuality of all animals
- Many trials and procedures are carried out on animals in order to produce a clone
- The success rate is low
- There are almost no normal clones- genetic abnormalities are common
Name the two different types of human cloning
- Therapeutic
2. Reproductive
What is therapeutic cloning?
Making an embryo from patients own healthy cells to provide stem cells for treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and heart disease
What is reproductive cloning?
Making a genetically identical individual
where are embryonic stem cells derived from?
Embryos created in the lab by using IVF, somatic cell nuclear replacement using donated eggs and nuclei from adult tissue and activating a human egg without a sperm
Where are adult stem cells derived from?
Adult or foetal tissue
State the two biggest concerns associated with therapeutic cloning?
- Human embryo demands respect as a human being, so that intentional production of embryos for research, or the use of ‘spare embryos’ in IVF is tantamount to murder
- Technique for therapeutic cloning essentially the same as for reproductive cloning high risk that this will be exploited – ‘slippery slope’
Name the three main viewpoints associated with the question ‘when does human life begin?’
Pro-life/religious
scientific
pro-choice
