Biotech Ethics

Check this opinion piece, from the South African newspaper, The Times: Forensics bill raises ethics issues

Proposed law is not strict enough when it comes to access to people’s genetic coding, leaving this open to exploitation and abuse, writes Mary de Haas
The Criminal Law (Forensics Procedures) Amendment Bill of 2009, which includes provisions for the establishment of a national DNA database, is being marketed as an indispensable tool in the fight against crime.
But, as crucial as DNA can be in showing innocence or guilt, this bill should definitely not be passed in its present form. It does not sufficiently address issues relating to individual and family privacy, and some of its provisions are unethical. It also places far too much power in the hands of the SA Police Service without adequate oversight.

From Knowledge@Wharton: A World Transformed: What Are the Top 30 Innovations of the Last 30 Years?

Is it possible to determine which 30 innovations have changed life most dramatically during the past 30 years? That is the question that Nightly Business Report, the Emmy Award-winning PBS business program, and Knowledge@Wharton set out to answer to celebrate NBR’s 30th anniversary this year. NBR partnered with Knowledge@Wharton to create a list of the “Top 30 Innovations of the Last 30 Years.”

Here’s their list:

1. Internet, broadband, WWW (browser and html)
   
2. PC/laptop computers
   
3. Mobile phones
   
4. E-mail
   
5. DNA testing and sequencing/Human genome mapping
   
6. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
   
7. Microprocessors
   
8. Fiber optics
   
9. Office software (spreadsheets, word processors)
   
10. Non-invasive laser/robotic surgery (laparoscopy)
    
11. Open source software and services (e.g., Linux, Wikipedia)
    
12. Light emitting diodes
    
13. Liquid crystal display (LCD)
    
14. GPS systems
    
15. Online shopping/ecommerce/auctions (e.g., eBay)
    
16. Media file compression (jpeg, mpeg, mp3)
    
17. Microfinance
    
18. Photovoltaic Solar Energy
    
19. Large scale wind turbines
    
20. Social networking via the Internet
    
21. Graphic user interface (GUI)
    
22. Digital photography/videography
    
23. RFID and applications (e.g., EZ Pass)
    
24. Genetically modified plants
    
25. Bio fuels
    
26. Bar codes and scanners
    
27. ATMs
    
28. Stents
    
29. SRAM flash memory
    
30. Anti retroviral treatment for AIDS

Notice that biotech takes #5, #24, #25, and #30. Hard not to suspect that the list 30 years from now will be a little more biotech-heavy.

From Fox News: After Criticism, Fertility Clinic Halts Delivery of Designer Babies

The Fertility Institutes in Los Angeles, which last month said it would soon help couples select a baby’s gender and physical traits when undergoing a form of fertility treatment, has announced it will no longer proceed with the project.

The clinic, which has locations in Los Angeles, Mexico and New York, told the Wall Street Journal last month it had received a half-dozen requests for babies with specific physical characteristics.
…
But the clinic’s Web site, has now posted its “Latest News”:

“In response to feedback received related to our plans to introduce preimplantation genetic prediction of eye pigmentation, an internal, self-regulatory decision has been made to proceed no further with this project….”

Here are two bioindustry lawyers, writing in Bioworld: What to Think About When Considering an Overseas Clinical Trial Program

To remain competitive, drug, device and biotechnology companies must continually pursue innovative new products and product improvements. Clinical trials are essential to the development of new medical products and require the investment of tremendous time and resources — with no guarantee of success. In 2007, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies spent approximately $58.8 billion on research and development efforts, with clinical trials typically consuming 40 percent or more of the research and development budget.

This enormous investment in time and money has caused drug companies to explore opportunities to lower the costs and shorten the timelines of their clinical trial programs. It is, therefore, no surprise that pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. have steadily increased the number of clinical trials they conduct overseas, with a focus on jurisdictions promising cost savings and recruitment efficiencies, such as those located in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). While U.S. companies can realize significant benefits by conducting a clinical trial in the CEE and other foreign jurisdictions, they also must consider the myriad of legal, regulatory, ethical and cultural questions they will invariably encounter in setting up and conducting a clinical trial abroad. U.S. companies also must be aware that FDA is increasing its scrutiny of foreign clinical trial data. In April 2008, FDA amended its foreign clinical trial regulations to ensure “the quality and integrity of foreign clinical data supporting FDA decision making on product applications and to help ensure the protection of human subjects participating in foreign clinical trials….”

For those of us who are outsider observers of the bio-pharma industry, it’s useful to see discussions among insiders once in a while.

From Genetic Future: Growth in commercial disease gene tests, 2008 update…

I just noticed that GeneTests, a voluntary listing of US and international laboratories offering in-house genetic tests, has released an updated version of their graph of commercially available tests:

From Bjorn Lomborg, writing in City: Another Green Revolution

Shortly after the Second World War, a “Green Revolution” began to transform agriculture around the globe, allowing food production to keep pace with worldwide population growth. By means of irrigation, fertilizer, pesticides, and plant breeding, the Green Revolution increased world grain production by an astonishing 250 percent between 1950 and 1984, raising the calorie intake of the world’s poorest people and averting serious famines. The revolution’s benefits have tapered off, however, as the number of mouths to feed has grown ever larger and as conventional breeding of new plant varieties has produced diminishing returns. What’s needed is a new revolution. Luckily, most agricultural scientists believe that the planet’s requirements for agricultural production could be met through genetic modification (GM)—if environmental activists don’t keep it from happening.

I’ve written positive things about GM foods. But I think Lomborg is overselling the benefits, here.

From The Orlando Sentinel: Genetic privacy: Who is testing your DNA?

Test Infidelity is just one of dozens of U.S. companies offering to test DNA taken without the knowledge of the people concerned. Many firms advertise infidelity testing services or offer “discreet” paternity tests. These allow a man to determine whether he is the father of a child without letting anyone else know what he is up to, or a woman to tell whether a man is the father of her child without involving him in the process.

While the total number of stealthy DNA tests being conducted is unclear, interviews with genetic testing companies indicate that thousands are being run each year in the United States alone.

Press release: Abandoning Bio-Ethics Will Damage New Zealand

Friday, 13 March 2009, 9:48 am
Press Release: GE Free NZ
GE Free New Zealand
In Food And Environment Inc.
http://www.gefree.org.nz

Abandoning Bio-Ethics Will Damage New Zealand

New Zealand’s world-wide reputation will be undermined if the government proceeds with its plan to terminate the Bio-Ethics Council and seeks to loosen legislated safeguards around the use of biotechnology.

“It is alarming to see the shutting down of public participation and the right for people to express their views on moral and ethical issues around highly contentious matters that affect their lives and those of future generations,” says Claire Bleakley from GE Free NZ in food and environment….

Google Co-Founder Backs Vast Parkinson’s Study

Sergey Brin, the billionaire co-founder of Google, says he plans to contribute money and his DNA to a large study intended to reveal the genetic underpinnings of Parkinson’s disease.

The study, to be announced Thursday, will be conducted by 23andMe, a company co-founded and co-managed by Mr. Brin’s wife, Anne Wojcicki. The company offers a personal genomics service, in which it scans the DNA submitted by its customers and provides information on their health risks, ancestry and other traits.

Now it hopes to use its service and its growing database of consumer DNA to conduct medical research. The company hopes to recruit 10,000 people with Parkinson’s disease for the study.

For more on 23andMe, see: Personal Genomics: the Ethics of Shared Uncertainty

For use of social networks in research, see:
Therapeutic Misconception, Personalized Genetics, & Breast Cancer Research
and
Want to find out what makes you “stand out from the crowd”? Consider signing up for a research study!

The biotech industry is famous for hype. But even the most enthusiastic sales-pitch should stop short of implying that a company can violate the laws of physics. For example:

From Nature Biotech (Jan. 2009) Biotech’s green gold?

Valcent Products, a public company located in Vancouver, is experimenting with a range of algal species in enclosed bioreactors. Valcent CEO Glen Kertz says he can sell a barrel of algal oil for less than a barrel of crude oil and that his system has the potential to produce 100,000 gal/ac/yr.

“I said to him [Kertz], ‘You are not doing anyone any favors by making absurd claims’,” says Scripps’ Mayfield. “That is five times the theoretical maximum energy from sunlight landing on an acre. It’s physically impossible to do that.” No outside experts have been allowed to validate the system yet, according to Kertz.

Yeah, telling prospective investors that you can violate the laws of thermodynamics probably isn’t fully ethical.