BIOLOGYThe Study of Life

What Characteristics Determine if Something is Living?

Living Things

Are made up of cells Reproduce Are based on a universal genetic code Grow and develop Obtain and use materials and energy Respond to their environment Maintain a stable environment When taken as a group, change over time

Could any of these characteristics be used to make moral judgments?

Science & Human Values

How can we best use antibiotics ? How much information from your genes

should you be able to keep private? Should cloning be legal? Should we regulate burning of fossil

fuels? Should stem cell research be legal? Whom should scientists test new

medicines on?

When Scientists Have a Conflict of InterestBioethics addresses ethical questions in biology to determine the best course of action and provide reasons why.

Science is Empirical

based on evidence or consequences that are observable by the senses

allows for comparison without an infusion of subjectivity

While all human experiments are subject to some amount of

subjectivity, a scientist tries to minimize it. This helps to keep

personal biases and opinions out of the experiment.

What Does it Mean to Know?

Data: simple facts Information: organized data Understanding: knowing the causes

and significance of the information Wisdom: ability to extend what you

know to guide values, attitudes and conduct

Strict Adherence to the Scientific Method

Propose a testable question Research: get as much information from

as many sources as possible before you start experimenting

Form a Hypothesis: in the form of an if…then statement

Design an Experiment Analyze Data Form a Conclusion

Strives to Prove Itself Wrong

Science requires replication The more times an experiment is repeated the

more valid the results The more scientists who carry out an

experiment the less likely the information in skewed by objectivity and personal biases

Scientists form a hypothesis and eventually theories based on the EMPIRICAL data available to them at that given time

Those theories may eventually be proven false as technology and study bring more data to the scientists attention

Ex. The World is Flat

Lab Based/ Testable

Lab settings are controllable Good predictive value Fact driven

Not Limited by Ethics

Science tells us what we can do…not what we should do

Is Science Wisdom?

No… Ethics, beliefs, faith etc. are not guiding

principles of science. In order to achieve wisdom you must

incorporate what you know with what you believe.

Ethical vs. Scientific

Are the following ethical questions or scientific questions:

1. How does the human immune system recognize bacteria?

2. Should people who have a genetic test to see whether they are carriers of a genetic disease then tell their family about the results?

3. How do vaccines work?4. Should people who donate a kidney be

allowed to choose who should receive it?

Ethical vs. Scientific

5. Who should receive a vaccine that is in short supply – a very young person or a very old person?

6. How does the kidney’s structure relate to its function?

7. Must children be allowed to decide for themselves if they want to be involved in a test of a new treatment for a disease?

8. How can a gene from a human being be inserted into a plant?

Ethical vs. Scientific

9. How does a mutation in a gene alter the structure of the resulting protein?

10. Under what circumstances, if any, should people insert genes from one species into another?