Our team has taken the initiative to create something that will be usable in everyday life and does not pose any ethical issues or concerns in the eyes of our institution and government. Our heat induced olfactory biosensor is essentially and alarm clock that does not wake up a person by a piercingly loud sound but by the nice smell of evergreen. Most people use an alarm clock on their phone, or clock next to their bed. Our biosensor can be used in the same way.
There are several ethical codes that bioengineers need to abide by:
- Are we intending to play God or peruse the project to use the materials we are given for anything other than science?
- Are we creating life? This is especially important since we are a catholic school.
- Are we plagiarizing other projects?
- Are we using human or animal experimentation to further our project?
- Are we creating something that is safe?
These are simply a few questions that we have to ask ourselves as bioengineers. The answer to the previous five questions that we have asked ourselves throughout the duration of this experiment is no. No we have not intended to play God, plagiarized any projects, created biobricks that could be used in a harmful way, used animal experimentation, or created life. We have worked to create something safe for consumers, in hopes that our project will be useful for people of today’s society.
Ethics and the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church's views on synthetic biology are quite clear. They state very clearly that altering certain things in genetics is ethical, and not sinful. However, mankind must never attempt to create life. Man must work to advance sciences in his age, for the common good, but must never attempt to ‘play God’ or to create life. Participation in the scientific community is encouraged, and the Church realizes that it greatly enhances the quality of life experienced by mankind, and also allows infinitely more medical advances to be made. This is also encouraged, as it is an ethical obligation to provide for all those who you can, and to contribute to the common good of society as much as possible. No person has any authority, except from God. This is also clearly laid out in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. No man has the authority to create life, to destroy life, or to ruin life. That being said, any scientific research that does none of the above is in line with the Church's views on the ethics of science. Synthetic biology is accepted, as long as no attempt is made to create life. However, any synthetic approach to embryonic cells or fetuses is not in line with the Church and is condemned because of the nature of the research/science. |
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