Ethical Issues in Therapeutic Cloning

1. Ethical Issues in Therapeutic Cloning José Roberto Goldim January/2003 ©Goldim/2003

2. Complex Bioethics Facts + Circumstances Therapeutic Cloning Principles Casuistry Consequences Alternatives ©Goldim/2003

3. Principles Prima facie duties Beneficence Benefits Risks Precautionary Principle Respect for person Privacy Veracity Autonomy Justice Person and Society ©Goldim/2003

4. Casuistry Cloning 1996 Ian Wilmut Dolly Embryonic Stem-cells 1998 James Thomson humanembryonic John Gearhart human fetal 2001 Robert Lanza human embryo cloning for therapeutic purposes ©Goldim/2003

5. Facts • Therapeutic Cloning • Cloning of an embryo only for producing embryonic stem-cells • Tissue repair without rejection ©Goldim/2003

6. Common Sense Technology Science Technology Technology Science Technology Common Sense Circumstances Scientific Aspects Knowledge Generation and Trasposition Technoscience ©Goldim/2003

7. Circumstances Moral Aspects Ethics cannot be involved, it must not be applied to science. For Christianity there is one ethics. For the Raelian movement there is another one. Ethics is always a refrain. There is no room for ethics in science. Science must be free. Claude Rael 2003 Something technically possible is not, simply because of it, morally acceptable. Donum Vitae 1987 Cardeal Joseph Ratzinger ©Goldim/2003

8. Circumstances Moral Aspects Paradox: As the embryo is not human it can be aborted, Because the embryo is human we want to use it for research. Kristina Kercher Kenneally 2002 ©Goldim/2003

9. Circumstances Moral Aspects ... therapeutic cloning must be considered as a solidarity duty for future generations... C. Petitnicolas e M. Perez. Les Enjeux du clonage thérapeutique. Le Figaro 19/01/2002 Future generations have the right to inherit an intact planet. They do not have the right for miraculous healing. Hans Jonas (1968) Ética, medicina e técnica. Lisboa: Veja, 1994:139. ©Goldim/2003

10. Circumstances Legal Aspects • Brazil • Federal Constitution– 1988 • Civil Code – 2003 • Genetic Engineering Act 8974/95 • Technical Directive CTNBIO 08/97 ©Goldim/2003

11. Circumstances Social Aspects United States - 2002 56% therapeutic cloning 13% reproductive cloning United Kingdom - 2002 46% therapeutic cloning 12% reproductive cloning Porto Alegre - 2001 (ACT) 62% therapeutic cloning Porto Alegre – 2002 (CLONAID) 25% reproductive cloning ©Goldim/2003

12. Circumstances Psychological Aspects Generate positive expectations without scientific evidence Difficulties to apply this technology to health care in a short period of time Hypocrisy vs. Demagogy ©Goldim/2003

13. Consequences New therapeutic approaches Unforeseen hazards unknown risks Destruction of embryos Cells and Embryo trading ©Goldim/2003

14. Alternatives Stem-cells from outnumber viable embryos (destructive harvest) Stem-cells from embryos before implantation (non-destructive harvest) Stem-cells from embryos unfit for implantation (harvest from disposed biological material) Cord-blood stem-cells (harvest from disposed biological material) Adult stem-cells (harvest from donor or self) ©Goldim/2003

15. Principles Respect for Persona Thoughts on use embryo should not focus on improving reproductive technologies anymore, but in their use as mere cell sources. The challenge is establishing the rights on the very beginning of life, for embryos and fetuses must have a status. Noelle Lenoir Bioethics and 21st century, viewpoint of the jurist. Presse Med 2002;31(12):565-70 ©Goldim/2003

16. Ethics Applied Ethics Ethics embedded in practice www.bioetica.ufrgs.br ©Goldim/2003