Bioethics is the branch of ethics, philosophy and social commentary that discusses the life sciences and their potential impact on our society. It is multidisciplinary and blends philosophy, theology, history, and law with medicine, nursing, health policy, and the medical humanities. Insights from various disciplines are brought to bear on the complex interaction of human life, science, and technology. Although its questions are as old as humankind, the origins of bioethics as a field are much more recent.
The term “bioethics” was first coined in 1971 (some say by University of Wisconsin professor Van Rensselaer Potter; others, by fellows of the Kennedy Institute in Washington, D.C.), it may have signified merely the combination of biology and bioscience with humanistic knowledge.
New applied biosciences like genomics, DNA sequencing, stem cell research, forensic DNA databases, and genetic engineering are reconfiguring the legal individual even as they reconstitute life itself. In particular, developments in biotechnology and the life sciences have thrown into question existing institutional and doctrinal approaches to intellectual property, reproduction, human subjects research, crime and punishment, health care, and privacy.
Bioethics, in terms of the law, is a constantly changing field, all these new advances in science and technology provide much promise, but must also be continually balanced against ethical constraints and the need for a proper legal framework to ensure the protection of the rights of the individual and society at large.
I have personally participated in a number of panel discussions on the subject of bioethics and find its implications, in so far as the Law is concerned, fascinating to say the lease.
As the field continues to evolve, bioethics has become a prominent force in legislation and public policy, and in other practical applications of theoretical principles. There now are many programs of training and education, ranging from certificates to Masters degrees and even a few PhD programs in Bioethics.