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Bursic 2:00 L10 THE ETHICS OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS Jake Donovan ([email protected]) this, we must proceed with caution as we develop our guidelines and practices. The environmental effects of GMOs are particularly concerning with crops and food production. One of the most significant developments made by genetic engineering is the ability of crops to produce pesticides and be resistance to specific herbicides. These traits help with food production, as farmers can grow crops in less than ideal conditions. However the use of herbicides is significantly increased with this method, which can have a negative effect on the environment. The increased use of herbicides can also cause strains of weeds and other plants to develop herbicide resistance through cross-pollination. This eventually negates any positive effect of the herbicide. Concerns have also been raised with crops that are able to produce their own pesticides. These concerns regard the adverse effects on other species. Although pesticides protect crops against unwanted insects, it is possible for them to have unintentional effects on neutral or even beneficial species. One example of this is the death of a large portion of the Monarch butterfly population caused by a pesticide engineered to grow in a specific species of corn [3]. Genetically modified crops also have possible negative effects on human health, namely in the creation of new allergies and proteins. When genes from different species are spliced, it is possible for consumers to develop unexpected allergic reactions. In one example, bioengineers used genes from a nut found in Brazil to help increase the production of the amino acid methionine in soya beans. This unintentionally caused allergic reactions in people with nut allergies. Along with this, proteins that have never been a part of the human diet are now present in foods that people consume every day. Their potential effects on the human body are unknown and must be further researched [4]. GMOs make it possible to introduce extra nutrients, vaccines, and antibiotics into foods. This technology can provide nutrition and disease resistance to countries that otherwise would not have access to them. The distribution of these foods is much easier than mass vaccinations for most of today’s major diseases. These products carry with them potential negative effects caused by the development of vaccine and antibiotic resistant strains of diseases. It is essential that researchers consider environmental and human health while this field develops. One example of a GMO that must be researched further is the vitamin A enriched banana. This technology will be able to help alleviate vitamin A deficiency, which is a huge problem particularly in third world countries [5]. THE BIOENGINEERING OF GMOS As popular bioethicist Leon Kass explains, “The benefits of biomedical progress are obvious, clear, and powerful. The hazards are much less well appreciated” [1]. Biomedicine and bioengineering have provided, and continue to provide humans with a seemingly endless number of novel solutions to biological problems. With rapid growth in the technologies available to bioengineers, one must pay close attention to ensure that research remains both safe and ethical. As Stanford University explains it, the mission of bioengineering is to “create a fusion of engineering and the life sciences that promotes scientific discovery and the invention of new technologies and therapies through research and education” [2]. One of the most significant of these technologies is the production of genetically modified organisms. To fully manipulate an organism’s genetic makeup, one must use a new biotechnological method known as transgenics. Transgenic organisms are able to express foreign genes because the genetic code is universal for all organisms. This means that any DNA sequence will create the same protein in all organisms. Because of this universality of the genetic code, researchers are able to cut an organism’s DNA and add genes at common protein points. This can be achieved using conventional selective breeding and hybridization, cloning, antisense technology, gene silencing, and various other methods [13]. Once the new DNA is in the organism’s genetic sequence, it undergoes synthesis. In synthesis, DNA is converted into RNA, which then travels into the cell plasma. Once there, RNA is converted into single strands of amino acids by ribosomes. These single strands bend and fold, giving them a specific three-dimensional structure, which controls their function. With these structures fully formed, the cell expresses proteins that it would otherwise not have been able to produce. This gives the organism new and novel characteristics, which are used to benefit humans. Given the nature of genetic research, there are quite a number of ethical dilemmas surrounding GMOs. ETHICAL DILEMMAS OF GMOS Although genetically modified organisms have proven to be extremely beneficial, they cause both scientists and the general public to question whether or not they are ethical, namely in their effects on the environment, and their effects on humans. The use of GMOs is still in its infancy and the long-term effects of them are not yet known. Because of University of Pittsburgh, Swanson School of Engineering 2015-11-03 1 Jake Donovan VITAMIN A ENRICHED BANANAS public health, safety, and welfare. Engineers must perform under a standard of professional behavior that requires adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct” [9]. The ideas in this preamble, that engineers are obligated to protect and serve society ultimately led me to refuse to publish the information my boss needed. Publishing incorrect data would be ethically wrong, as it would break a number of the fundamental canons of both the NSPE Code of Ethics and the Biomedical Engineering Society Code of Ethics. The first fundamental canon of the NSPE Code of Ethics states that in the fulfillment of their professional duties, engineers must, “Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public” [9]. If I had listened to my boss, I would be breaking this. Allowing the bananas to be grown and consumed by humans without knowing possible adverse effects puts them at risk to many unknown health issues. This is unethical because it puts the safety, health, and welfare of the public at risk. It is important for engineers to always consider this canon because almost everything engineers create affect the safety and health of our society. The third and fifth canons together state that ethical engineers must “Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner” and “Avoid deceptive acts” [9]. Issuing a statement to the company purchasing our technology that the bananas were safe for human consumption would not be objective and truthful, and would be highly deceptive. It is important that engineers are truthful because the decisions they make are very influential. Engineers must conduct themselves with honor, responsibly, and lawfulness in order to main the reputation and honor of the profession. The Biomedical Engineering Society defines bioengineering as “a learned profession that combines expertise and responsibilities in engineering, science, technology, and medicine” [10] Since public health and welfare are extremely important in each of these areas, bioengineers are obligated to maintain principles of ethical conduct in research, professional practice, and patient care. As a researcher for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, I was able to successfully bioengineer a breed of bananas modified with the banana gene “phytoene synthase (PSY2a), isolated from the asupina banana, which is naturally high in beta carotene, a precursor to vitamin A” [6]. This gene significantly increased the amount of vitamin A produced by the banana. In order to make production easier, I also inserted genes that would help with pest and disease resistance. In the countries that we would apply the bananas, desert locusts are a huge problem. A swarm of “one million locusts can eat about one ton of food each day, and the largest swarms can consume over 100,000 tons each day, or enough to feed tens of thousands of people for one year” [7]. For this reason, I fortified the bananas to produce a pesticide that kills locust. Another huge problem facing banana production are two diseases that “are attacking banana crops across central Africa, putting about 30 million people at risk in regions where it is a staple” [8] These diseases are banana bunchy top virus, which stunts the plants growth, and bacterial wilt, which causes premature ripening. To combat these problems, I also fortified the bananas with genes that would make them more disease resistant. With the introduction of all of these new genes, I decided that it would be necessary for further testing to be done to ensure that the bananas were safe for both human consumption and for the environment. Before I was able to complete my research on the adverse effects of the bananas, UPMC received a huge monetary offer for the technology. The company buying it told us that they needed it right away, and that if we couldn’t do that, they would buy a similar technology from our biggest competitor. I was asked by my boss to conclude that the bananas were safe before the research was done in order to make the sale. This made me very uncomfortable because I knew that it was possible for the bananas to eventually have negative effects on humans or the environment, but I was concerned with losing my job for not listening to my boss. To help me make a decision, I consulted multiple pieces of literature on ethics, including codes of ethics and different case studies involving ethical situations. THE IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS Ethics in engineering is important because engineering is a very influential field. Whether it has to do with the manipulation of an organisms’ genetic makeup, the building of a bridge, or simply the way a house is made, the implications are profound. With this privileged position, engineers are obligated to look towards their codes of ethics as moral compasses to ensure that their work remains honorable. Ethics influences a vast number of situations and there are many case studies that provide good examples. I found two case studies particularly interesting, the first involving the integrity of a structural engineer and the second involving advances made in synthetic biology. In the first of these situations, a distinguished structural engineer is contacted by an engineering student who ETHICAL EVALUATION The preamble to the National Society of Professional Engineers’ code of ethics sets an extremely strong precedence for how engineers should conduct themselves, stating that “Engineering is an important and learned profession. As members of this profession, engineers are expected to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Engineering has a direct and vital impact on the quality of life for all people. Accordingly, the services provided by engineers require honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, and must be dedicated to the protection of the 2 Jake Donovan expresses concerns about a major design flaw in one of his famous skyscrapers. At first the engineer dismisses the student's concerns, but he starts thinking about it. He reviews his schematics and realizes the student was correct and that strong winds could cause the building to fall, taking thousands of innocent lives Fixing the building would be a huge endeavor, as it would require notifying the building's owners and the press. It would also have a negative effect on his professional reputation. I believe that although it would negatively affect him, he is obligated to rectify his mistake because otherwise, he is putting thousands of people at risk [11]. This is shown to be unethical in the first fundamental canon of the NSPE Code of Ethics. The latter of these case studies is involves a field closely related to GMOs, synthetic biology. It explains that synthetic biology provides novel solutions to problems in health, energy, and the environment by combining engineering and biology for the creation of biological systems that do not occur in nature. These systems are able to perform functions with a vast range of applications beneficial to humans. The potential value of these applications is enormous as they efficiently address many of the problem facing today’s engineers. The potential of synthetic biology is well known to policymakers and governmental agencies, but there are also concerns with the problems in ethics and policy that may be associated with the development and application of novel biological machines [12]. The case study asks the reader to imagine that he or she is a part of a diverse group of graduate students from Georgia Tech, Emory University, Georgia State University College of Law, and Morehouse School of Medicine. The reader is hypothetically participating in an ethics course funded by the National Science Foundation. He or she is required to investigate and provide ethical and policy analysis to the Emergent Behaviors of Integrated Cellular Systems sector of the Science and Technology Center. The reader is allowed to choose from three different areas of study. The first involves cellular systems that are able to sense levels of substances like glucose in a person’s blood and instruct other cellular systems to secrete drugs such as insulin. In the second area, the reader researches test-bed cellular systems that are able to mimic the behavior of organs like the heart and liver. These products can be used to screen drugs to ensure that they are safe and efficient, helping to help reduce the need for animal testing in the development of drugs. The final of the three areas involves cellular systems that test for neurotoxins in water. They are then able to signal other cellular systems to produce substances that help the body fight against neurotoxins [12]. In analyzing and arriving at recommendations for the ethics and policy in their area of study, the reader is given access to graduate student researchers and faculty. This provides an opportunity for the reader to learn from an expert in the field. He or she is able to engage with them on the ethical and policy issues associated with their work. The reason for this case study is to demonstrate that ethics plays a vital role in nearly everything an engineer or researcher does. This serves as yet another reminder of the importance of ethics in the fields of science and engineering. REFERENCES [1] L. Kass. “Leon Kass Quote.” (Online Quote). http://izquotes.com/quote/99062 [2] “Department Overview.” Stanford Engineering. (Web page). https://bioengineering.stanford.edu/about/departmentoverview [3] “Executive Summary from the Genetically Modified Organism Exploratory Committee.” (Online Article). http://www.macalester.edu/~montgomery/GMOs2.htm [4] “What are the Ethical Issues?” Hudson Alpha Institute for Biotechnology. (Online Article). http://archive.hudsonalpha.org/education/kits/gmod/gmoethics [5] “Super Nanners! Engineering Bananas to Save Vision, Life in East Africa.” Science in the News. (2014). (Online blog). http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2014/super-nannersengineering-bananas-to-save-vision-life-in-east-africa/ [6] E. Waltz. (2014). “Vitamin A Super Banana in human trials.” (Online article). http://rt4rf9qn2y.search.serialssolutions.com/?genre=article &title=Nature%20Biotechnology&atitle=Vitamin%20A%20 Super%20Banana%20in%20human%20trials.&author=Walt z%2C%20Emily&authors=Waltz%2C%20Emily&date=201 40901&volume=32&issue=9&spage=857&issn=10870156 [7] “Plant Pests and Diseases.” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (Online Article). http://www.fao.org/emergencies/emergency-types/plantpests-and-diseases/en/ [8] D. McNeil. (2009, August 31). The New York Times. (Online Blog). http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/health/01glob.html?_r= 2 [9] “NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers.” (2007). National Society of Professional Engineers. (Online Article). http://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics [10] “Biomedical Engineering Society Code of Ethics.” (2004). Biomedical Engineering Society. (Online Article). http://bmes.org/files/2004%20Approved%20%20Code%20o f%20Ethics(2).pdf [11] “The Cost of Integrity.” WebGuru. (Case Study). http://www.webguru.neu.edu/professionalism/casestudies/cost-integrity [12] “Ethical and Policy Problems in Synthetic Biology.” Online Ethics Center. (Case Study). http://www.onlineethics.org/Resources/Cases/27581.aspx [13] L. Glenn. “Ethical Issues in Genetic Engineering and Transgenics.” (Online Article). http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotechnology/glenn.html 3 Jake Donovan ADDITIONAL SOURCES “Ethics Case Studies in Biodesign” Stanford Biodesign. (Case Study). http://biodesign.stanford.edu/bdn/ethicscases/18animallab.js p ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Professor Karen Bursic, the Pitt Writing Instructors, the Belvier Librarians, and Aidan Conway for providing me with the necessary skills, inspiration, and assistance to write this paper. Without them, I could not have written this. 4