Professions of the future: what is bioethics studying?

A modern person cannot imagine the world without achievements in the field of medicine and biology, because with them the quality of life also increases. But these discoveries can often lead to serious injustice, discrimination, and human rights violations. Which bioethics is trying to resolve.

This science originated after the Second World War during the formation of the Nuremberg Code, which restricts medical and scientific research. The experiments carried out on prisoners by doctors in concentration camps made it clear that scientists do not always understand the boundaries of what is permitted. But the Nuremberg Code took into account mainly the rights of the participants and did not focus on the obligations of the researchers themselves, which led to repeated violations of these rules. So, in 1972, an unethical study was discovered to study the course of syphilis in African Americans, which lasted for 40 years. The participants were not aware of their diagnosis, and even when the penicillin needed for treatment was available, patients were not notified. All this led to the formation of a basic ethical principle for making moral decisions. It is based on 4 postulates: independence, mercy, selflessness, and justice.

Bioethics is a symbiosis of philosophy and biology. It is designed to answer ethical questions in a specific scientific context. Should you edit the human genome? Where is the border of human life: are euthanasia and abortion humane? Can animal killings be minimized during clinical trial phases? How to allocate limited health resources? And many other controversial questions that arise from human empowerment. The task of bioethics is to mitigate the ethical consequences of the development of biology and medicine.

It is divided into three main disciplines: medical ethics, animal ethics, and environmental ethics. Each of them occupies a separate place, but often their questions are closely related or completely coincide. This makes it difficult to study and solve important problems such as abortion, xenotransplantation, cloning, stem cell research, the moral status of animals, and the moral status of nature. Legal gaps in these questions cause people to fear and anxiety about the future. Therefore, there remains a need for competent ethical leadership, which, in addressing these issues, must apply new theories that correspond to the complexity of the problems of the 21st century.

To become a good specialist in an interdisciplinary field, you need to master at least a basic level of many sciences. Bioethics is a branch of applied ethics, therefore, to do it, it is important to study law, philosophy, biology (especially genetics), biochemistry, biophysics, medicine, social sciences, and even theology. And for those already working in these areas, bioethics is gaining practical importance. Most philosophers are engaged in it, but those who have studied biology or medicine can also consider this direction for themselves because they will look at the problems of bioethics from their professional point of view, which often turns out to be more correct in finding a compromise in resolving one or another ethical conflict.

Where to study bioethics?

In Russia, this area is still developing more slowly and there are no separate specialized programs. You can enter St. Petersburg State University for a bachelor's degree in Applied Ethics or the Higher School of Economics for the master's program in Philosophical Anthropology. But the best thing about this profession is to study abroad. In the USA, one of the best programs has been adopted at the University of Pennsylvania. You can also go to Columbia University in New York orBrown University in Providence. Relating biology and philosophy is taught at the University of Toronto Canada.

If you dream of becoming a bioethicist, then the scholarship programs can be found on our website.[fourteen]