Genetic Technology

1. Genetic Technology Ethics & Genetic Screening

2. What is ethics? Ethics seeks to determine what a person should do, or the best course of action, and provides reasons why. Ethics helps people decide how to behave and treat one another. Ethics considers the effects a decision will have on individuals, families, communities, institutions and societies.

3. Is it Ethics? • Scientific questions describe what is • Ethical questions seek to determine what people should do • Legal questions help determine a minimum standard that should be followed • Ethical questions differ from personal preference issues because the circumstance at hand may involve an individual or group that might be harmed, disrespected or disadvantaged • These questions move us beyond our own cultural or habitual preferences

4. Identify each question as scientific, ethical, legal or personal preference. How can a gene from a human being be inserted into a plant? Should people who donate a kidney be able to choose who receives it? Who should receive a vaccine that is in short supply- a very young or very old person? Is it illegal to sell a kidney in the United States? What kind of ice cream flavor is the best? Does the United States permit the death penalty? Is it fair to punish every cheater to the same degree, no matter the circumstances?

5. Answers How can a gene from a human being be inserted into a plant? S Should people who donate a kidney be able to choose who receives it? E Who should receive a vaccine that is in short supply- a very young or very old person? E Is it illegal to sell a kidney in the United States? L What kind of ice cream flavor is the best? P Does the United States permit the death penalty? L Is it fair to punish every cheater to the same degree, no matter the circumstances? E

6. Making an Ethical Decision • Step 1: Determine the ethical question at hand • Step 2: Consider the facts • Be complete! Include all relevant facts! • Step 3: Who are the stakeholders? • This might include individuals, groups, communities, institutions, society, companies, environment, animals, etc. • Step 4: Consider your options • How will each stakeholder be effected? • Think about consequences, rights, respect, and justice! • List the pros and cons of each option. • Step 5: Take an ethical position • Defend your position in a well-thought out manner.

7. Example A group of college students is staying up late together to study for exams. Several of them have been drinking coffee all day and are wide awake, although feeling jittery. One of the students, Lisa, mentions that she has recently started taking a prescription medication that helps her stay awake because of a medical condition. Lisa had previously been a heavy coffee drinker, consuming four or more cups of coffee a day in her struggle to stay awake. Since starting on the new medication, she is able to stay awake for easily more than 24 hours and is not experiencing any serious negative side effects. “It’s better than coffee,” she tells her friends, “but it is a lot more expensive.”

8. What is the ethical question?

9. Consider the facts Coffee drinks multiple cups a day No ill side effects from the medicine Cost difference pills are more expensive Overuse of the drug Coffee makes jittery

10. Who are the stakeholders?

11. What are your options?

12. Make a decision!

13. Genetic Screening You will now work with a group to make an ethical decision based on a question involving genetic screening. Work through all 5 steps of good decision making, keeping a record or your work. Be prepared to share your group’s scenario, process, and decision with the class!

14. Genetic ScreeningHow does it work? The process of analyzing DNA samples to detect the presence of a gene or genes associated with an inherited disorder. Gene tests (also called DNA-based tests), the newest and most sophisticated of the techniques used to test for genetic disorders, involve direct examination of the DNA molecule itself. In gene tests, scientists scan a patient's DNA sample for mutated sequences. A DNA sample can be obtained from any tissue, including blood. For some types of gene tests, researchers design short pieces of DNA called probes, whose sequences are complementary to the mutated sequences These probes will seek their complement among the three billion base pairs of an individual's genome. If the mutated sequence is present in the patient's genome, the probe will bind to it and flag the mutation.

15. Genetic ScreeningHow is it being used? Genetic tests are used for several reasons, including: carrier screening, which involves identifying unaffected individuals who carry one copy of a gene for a disease that requires two copies for the disease to be expressed preimplantation genetic diagnosis prenatal diagnostic testing newborn screening presymptomatic testing for predicting adult-onset disorders such as Huntington's disease presymptomatic testing for estimating the risk of developing adult-onset cancers and Alzheimer's disease confirmational diagnosis of a symptomatic individual forensic/identity testing

16. Ethical Implications of Genetic Screening

18. DNA Fingerprinting

19. How DNA Fingerprinting works • To identify individuals, forensic scientists scan 13 DNA regions, or loci, that vary from person to person and use the data to create a DNA profile of that individual (sometimes called a DNA fingerprint). • There is an extremely small chance that another person has the same DNA profile for a particular set of 13 regions.

20. Some Examples of DNA Uses for Forensic Identification • Identify potential suspects whose DNA may match evidence left at crime scenes • Exonerate persons wrongly accused of crimes • Identify crime and catastrophe victims • Establish paternity and other family relationships • Identify endangered and protected species as an aid to wildlife officials (could be used for prosecuting poachers) • Detect bacteria and other organisms that may pollute air, water, soil, and food • Match organ donors with recipients in transplant programs • Determine pedigree for seed or livestock breeds • Authenticate consumables such as caviar and wine

21. National DNA Databank: CODIS • The COmbined DNA Index System, CODIS, currently has two indexes – • the Convicted Offender Index • contains DNA profiles of individuals convicted of felony sex offenses (and other violent crimes). • The Forensic Index • contains DNA profiles developed from crime scene evidence. • CODIS utilizes computer software to automatically search its two indexes for matching DNA profiles.

22. Privacy Issues • Collected samples are stored, and many state laws do not require the destruction of a DNA record or sample after a conviction has been overturned. • So there is a chance that a person's entire genome may be available —regardless of whether they were convicted or not.

23. Katie’s Bill • Katie's Bill: a New Mexico law that requires the police to take DNA samples from suspects in most felony arrests • Before 2006, New Mexico laws required DNA to be sampled only from convicted felons. The bill is named for Katie Sepich, whose 2003 murder went unsolved until her killer's DNA entered the database in 2005 when he was convinced of another felony. Her killer had been arrested, but not convicted, for burglary prior to 2005. • Opponents of the law assert that it infringes on the privacy and rights of the innocent. • Cleared suspects can have their DNA samples removed from the state database, but only after being arrested.

24. Fourth Amendment • Fourth Amendment: rights against unreasonable search and seizure • Does Katie’s Bill violate this? • Civil liberties advocates say the law could be abused to justify arrests made on less than probable cause just to obtain DNA evidence.

25. Laws • As of September 2007, all 50 states have laws that require convicted sex offenders to submit DNA • 44 states have laws that require convicted felons to submit DNA • 9 states require DNA samples from those convicted of certain misdemeanors • 11 states have laws authorizing arrestee DNA sampling

26. Potential Advantages of Banking Arrestee DNA • Major crimes often involve people who also have committed other offenses. Having DNA banked potentially could make it easier to identify suspects, just as fingerprint databases do. • Innocent people currently are incarcerated for crimes they did not commit; if DNA samples had been taken at the time of arrest, these individuals could have been proven innocent and thereby avoided incarceration.. • Banking arrestees' DNA instead of banking only that of convicted criminals could result in financial savings in investigation, prosecution, and incarceration.

27. Potential Disadvantages of Banking Arrestee DNA • Arrestees often are found innocent of crimes. The retention of innocent people's DNA raises significant ethical and social issues. • If people’s DNA is in police databases, they might be identified as matches or partial matches to DNA found at crime scenes. This occurs even with innocent people, for instance, if an individual had been at a crime scene earlier or had a similar DNA profile to the actual criminal. • Sensitive genetic information, such as family relationships and disease susceptibility, can be obtained from DNA samples. Police, forensic science services, and researchers using the database have access to people’s DNA without their consent. This can be seen as an intrusion of personal privacy and a violation of civil liberties.

28. Potential Disadvantages of Banking Arrestee DNA (continued) • Studies of the United Kingdom’s criminal database, which retains the DNA samples of all suspects, show that ethnic minorities are over represented in the population of arrestees and are, therefore, overrepresented in the criminal DNA database. This raises the concern of an institutionalized ethnic bias in the criminal justice system. • Even the most secure database has a chance of being compromised.

29. Journal Answer the journal questions in your note packet. • Would you allow a sample of your DNA to be used for comparison in a crime scene? Why or why not? •  Would you want your DNA to be kept in a database for future reference? Why or why not?

30. Genetically Modified Organisms Genetic modification is a special set of technologies that alter the genetic makeup of organisms such as animals, plants, or bacteria.

31. GMO’s; How do they work? • Combining genes from different organisms is known as recombinant DNA technology, and the resulting organism is said to be "genetically modified," "genetically engineered," or "transgenic.“ • Researchers can take certain genes from a source organism and put them into another plant or animal • Locating genes for important traits—such as those conferring insect resistance or desired nutrients—is one of the most limiting steps in the process.

33. GMO’s; How is it being used? • GM products (current or those in development) include medicines and vaccines, foods and food ingredients, feeds, and fibers. • In 2006, 252 million acres of transgenic crops were planted in 22 countries by 10.3 million farmers. • The majority of these crops were herbicide- and insect-resistant soybeans, corn, cotton, canola, and alfalfa.

34. Other crops grown commercially or field-tested are a sweet potato resistant to a virus that could decimate most of the African harvest, rice with increased iron and vitamins that may alleviate chronic malnutrition in Asian countries, and a variety of plants able to survive weather extremes. • On the horizon are bananas that produce human vaccines against infectious diseases such as hepatitis B; fish that mature more quickly; cows that are resistant to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease); fruit and nut trees that yield years earlier, and plants that produce new plastics with unique properties.

35. Ethical Implications of GMO’s

36. Cloning…What is it?

37. 3 Types of Cloning • DNA Cloning • Reproductive Cloning • Therapeutic Cloning

38. DNA Cloning • How does it work?-copying small pieces of DNA (usually 1-2 genes) from one organism into a second organism • How is it being used? • Make bacteria grow things for us (like insulin) • Genetically modified foods

40. Reproductive Cloning • How does it work?-making a new plant or animal that is an exact genetic copy of another through non-sexual reproduction • How is it being used? • Make more of "special" animals (like an incredibly fast horse, a cow that makes a huge amount of milk, Mighty Mouse, etc.) • Help save endangered species (like panda)

42. Therapeutic Cloning • How does it work? the use of stem cells to research and hopefully cure human diseases • How is it being used? • Possibly "grow" organs that are perfect matches thus eliminating organ transplant problems • Potentially cure Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, spinal cord injuries, and more

44. Ethical Implications of Cloning;

45. Stem Cells Stem cells are cells with the potential to develop into many different types of cells in the body. They serve as a repair system for the body. There are two main types of stem cells: embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells.

46. Embryonic Stem Cells: How does it work? • Embryonic stem cells, as their name suggests, are derived from embryos. Most embryonic stem cells are derived from embryos that develop from eggs that have been fertilized in vitro—in an in vitro fertilization clinic—and then donated for research purposes with informed consent of the donors. They are not derived from eggs fertilized in a woman's body.

47. Embryonic Stem Cells: How is it being used? • Scientists have been able to do experiments with human embryonic stem cells (hESC) only since 1998. • Although hESCs are thought to offer potential cures and therapies for many devastating diseases, research using them is still in its early stages. • Trials using hESCs to achieve restoration of spinal cord function

48. Adult (Somatic) Stem Cells: How does it work? • The primary roles of adult stem cells in a living organism are to maintain and repair the tissue in which they are found. • Scientists have found adult stem cells in many more tissues than they once thought possible. This finding has led researchers and clinicians to ask whether adult stem cells could be used for transplants.

49. Adult Stem Cells: How is it being used? • Some of the most serious medical conditions, such as cancer and birth defects, are due to abnormal cell division and differentiation. If we understand how Stem Cells work, we can understand how to treat these disorders • Human stem cells could also be used to test new drugs. For example, new medications could be tested for safety on differentiated cells generated from human stem cell lines, instead of on humans.

50. Perhaps the most important potential application of human stem cells is the generation of cells and tissues that could be used for cell-based therapies. • Cell-based therapies: Stem cells are used to repair damaged or destroyed cells or tissues