BIOETHICS
IN THE MOLECULAR LIFE SCIENCES
SAN
DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
Molecular Biology 610- Fall 2011
Instructor: Sanford Bernstein
Life Sciences 371, (619) 594-5629
About the course
Bioethics is a term that defines many of the
ethical issues facing students, faculty and those working in the biotechnology
industry. These issues include rights of individuals in clinical trials, humane
care of laboratory animals, the proliferation of genetically engineered foods,
human genome manipulation, stem cell and organism cloning, bioweapons,
delivery of genes to humans and animals, and patenting of organisms. Further,
areas specific to professional ethics include ownership of data, plagiarism,
authorship disputes, and scientific fraud. The goal of this course is to offer
education in the broad area of bioethics. Student learning outcomes are
expected to include: 1) ability to synthesize the bioethics research literature
into coherent oral presentations and written materials that offer appropriate
scientific background and a balanced view of the ethical issues; 2) ability to
explain and discuss complex scientific and ethical issues during in-class
interactions. The long-term goals of teaching bioethics to those involved in
developing and implementing biotechnology are to allow them to make
scientifically valid choices that consider the broader ethical issues and to
permit them to be capable of advising policy makers regarding these issues.
Case Study Report
You will be assigned to a two-member team.
Each team will be scheduled to report during one of the student presentation
periods. The team may choose one of two options for its oral report:
1) Each team member will deliver an oral report
that will consist of an eight minute presentation of a
case study (a controversial specific case that falls under one of the
course topics). In this option,
each team member will report on a different
case study. Describe the case (both the scientific basis and the ethical
area), why it is controversial, the contrasting views and how it has been
resolved (if it has). You may provide your own opinion. One week after the oral presentation,
each team member will submit a five page written summary and analysis of the
case study presented by the other team member (double spaced, references
may go beyond the five page limit). Thus each team member will speak on one
topic and write on a second. Team members are free to discuss topics together
and share materials from the literature. However, the papers need to be written
independently.
or
2) Four students (two teams) will have the
option of reporting on the book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by
Rebecca Skloot. One team will report on the key ethical
issues discussed in the first half of the book, while the second team will
report on the key ethical issues discussed in the second half of the book. Each
team will work to coordinate its 16 minute
presentation, so that each student speaks for 8 minutes. One week after the
oral presentation, each team member will submit a five page written summary and
analysis of the issues presented by the other team member (double
spaced, additional references may go beyond the five page limit). Team members
are free to discuss topics together and share materials. However, the papers
need to be written independently.
The groups should talk to or e-mail the
instructor (sbernst@sunstroke.sdsu.edu)
with their proposed case studies (and perhaps some alternates). The first
four people to volunteer for the Henrietta Lacks book will get that assignment.
The presentation on the book will be toward the end of the Bioethics section
(Oct 5 and Oct 19). For the other self-chosen topics, we will avoid redundancy
in the presentations. Thus the instructor will approve, suggest modifications
to or reject the proposed topic. If the topic is rejected, the student will
need to choose another topic. Thus, please submit your topic choices in a
timely fashion.
Reading
Two texts are listed for the course
v
On Being a
Scientist. Responsible Conduct in Research by the Committee on Science,
Engineering and Public Policy, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy
of Engineering, Institute of Medicine. Third Edition. National Academy Press.
Washington DC. 2009.
v
The Ethics of
Biomedical Research, An International Perspective by Baruch A. Brody. Oxford
University Press. New York. 1998.
The first text can be purchased at Aztec
Shops Bookstore or is available online for
free at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12192.
Three copies of the second text are on 2 hour reserve at the SDSU library reserve room. Copies are available for purchase at
Aztec Shops Bookstore. It also can be purchased directly from Oxford University
Press (http://www.oup.com/us).
In addition you are urged to purchase and
read:
v
The Immortal Life
of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Broadway/Crown.
2010/2011. This is the SDSU “Common Experience” book for this year and is
available at Aztec Shops Bookstore or on-line. We will focus on this book
during the course and this will be capped off by a meeting with the author on
November 2nd! Here is some information about the book from the
author (http://rebeccaskloot.com/the-immortal-life/):
“Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa.
She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her
knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine,
vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro
fertilization, and more. Henrietta’s cells have been bought and sold by the
billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t afford health
insurance.”
The course web site contains links to
relevant scientific and ethical articles. In
addition, instructors in the course will provide reading materials that must be
read prior to attending class. These will serve as background and as a
basis of course discussion.
Grading
Your final grade for Bioethics (50% of the 3
unit MB 610) will be derived as follows:
v
40% - oral
presentation (based on clarity of oral communication, appropriate scientific
background, delineation of ethical issues and principles, highlighting of
controversial points, visual aids)
v
50% - written
assignment (based on clarity of written communication, appropriate scientific
background, delineation of ethical issues and principles, highlighting of
controversial points, appropriate literature review and use of citations)
v
10% - class
participation and submission of additional short reports that may be requested
in class. TAKE NOTE- based upon this grading scheme, it will be near to
impossible to receive an A in this course unless you participate in class
discussion. So, please participate!
v
Plagiarism will
be extremely detrimental to your grade (this is, after all, an ethics course).
Lecture Schedule
See Reading list for additional required and optional readings and for
lecture notes
|
DATE |
TOPIC |
READING |
SPEAKER |
|
Aug 29 |
An introduction to bioethics and research ethics Philosophical underpinnings of bioethics |
Brody Chapter 10 |
Sanford Bernstein, Ph.D. SDSU Biology Darrel Moellendorf, Ph.D., SDSU Institute for Ethics & Public Affairs |
|
Aug 31 |
Authorship issues; Plagiarism and falsification of scientific data; Ownership of scientific data |
NAS Booklet |
Sanford Bernstein, Ph.D. SDSU Biology |
|
Sept 7 |
Patenting molecules, devices and organisms |
|
Michael Rondelli, J.D., Director, SDSU Research Foundation Technology Transfer Office |
|
Sept 12 |
Dealing with animals in an ethical manner |
Brody Chapter 1 |
Kent Osborn, DVM, Ph.D., UCSD |
|
Sept 14 |
Human subjects: Controversial studies; Regulations & ethical principles; Risks vs. benefits |
Brody Chapters 2,6,9 |
Dena Plemmons, Ph.D., Director, SDSU Division of Research Affairs, Grad & Research Affairs |
|
Sept 19 |
Designing ethical pharmaceutical studies; Informed consent; Pharmacogenomic testing |
Brody Chapters 7, 8 |
Joe Tami, Pharm. D., Director of Scientific Affairs,
Therapeutics Incorporated |
|
Sept 21 |
Student reports |
|
|
|
Sept 26 |
Animal cloning and genetic engineering |
|
Oliver Ryder, Ph.D., Conservation & Research for
Endangered Species, Zoological Society of San Diego |
|
Sept 28 |
Biological warfare |
|
Roger Sabbadini, Ph.D., Institute for International Security and Conflict Resolution, SDSU |
|
Oct 3 |
Gene delivery and therapy |
Brody Chapter 4 |
Theodore Friedmann, M.D., UCSD School of Medicine |
|
Oct 5 |
Student reports |
|
|
|
Oct 10 |
Human stem cells and cloning |
Brody Chapter 5 |
Karl Willert, Ph.D., Cellular & Molecular Medicine, UCSD |
|
Oct 12 |
Student reports |
|
|
|
Oct 17 |
Techniques for microscopic analysis |
|
Steve Barlow, Ph.D. SDSU Electron Microscope Facility |
|
Oct 19 |
Student reports Wrap-up discussion |
|
Sanford Bernstein |
|
Nov 2 |
Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks |
|
SDSU (2 PM) or Ruben H. Fleet Science Center (5:30 PM) |
Example of high quality case study written report
Another example of high quality case study written report
Presentation Groups
September
21, 2011 Presentation Groups
|
Group 1 Kathryn Patras Miles Whedbee |
Group
2 Jonathan Hernandez Kaitlen Samse |
Group 3 Ann Marie Moreno Edgar Campos |
|
Presentation topics:
|
Katy Patras |
Diagnosis
of Down Syndrome using cell-free fetal DNA in maternal circulation |
|
Miles Whedbee |
Enviropig line of GM
Yorkshire pigs |
|
Jonathan Hernandez |
Tuskegee
Syphilis Study (tentative) |
|
Kaitlen Samse |
Treating
Spinal Cord Injury with Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells Derived from iPS/ES Cells |
|
Ann Marie Moreno |
Nanobots |
|
Edgar Campos |
Transgenic
rice |
|
|
|
|
|
|
October
12, 2011 Presentation Groups (Note new date)
|
Group 4 Plamena Silvieva Mridula Ramesh |
Group 5 Nandini Ravindran Abdullah Jamali |
Group 6 Yvette Del Rosario Eric Durrant |
|
Presentation topics:
|
Plamena Silvieva |
Japanese
Biological Warfare Research on Humans |
|
Mridula Ramesh |
Letrozole clinical
trials in India |
|
Nandini Ravindran |
Bt
brinjal: first genetically modified crop for human
consumption in India |
|
Abdullah Jamali |
Guatemala syphilis tests |
|
Yvette Del Rosario |
Porton Down
research facility |
|
Eric Durrant |
Jesse
Gelsinger gene therapy trial |
|
|
|
|
|
|
October
5, 2011 Presentation Groups
|
Group 7 Carrie Miranda Myra Ng |
Group 8 Frank Erasmus Vrushali Mangale |
Group 9 Jinel Shah Cameron Smurthwaite |
Group
10 Michelle Petitfils Jordana Henderson |
Presentation topics:
|
Carrie Miranda |
Testing
whether man-made life forms are patentable, Diamond
v. Chakrabarty |
|
Myra Ng |
Pfizer
clinical trials in Nigeria on Trovan |
|
Frank Erasmus |
Willowbrook human
subjects research |
|
Vrushali Mangale |
Surgical
separation of Siamese twins |
|
Jinel Shah |
Abortion
case for baby with a congenital heart disorder |
|
Cameron Smurthwaite |
Myriad
Genetics, Inc., gene patenting case |
|
Michelle Petitfils |
The
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (first half) |
|
Jordana Henderson |
The
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (first half) |
October
19, 2011 Presentation Groups
|
Group
11 Carmen Carland Allison Gregg |
Group
12 David Nguyen Sean Nisperos |
Group
13 Benjamin Knowles |
|
Presentation topics:
|
Carmen Carland |
The
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (second half) |
|
Allison Gregg |
The
Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (second half) |
|
David Nguyen |
Genetic
Savings and Clone, Inc., the ethics of animal cloning |
|
Sean Nisperos |
Hwang
Woo Suks’ fabricated paper on cloning human embryos |
|
Benjamin Knowles |
Dolly
the sheep |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|