Life Science Ethics

495 Pages·2010·4.14 MB·English

by  Gary L. Comstock (auth.), Prof. Gary L. Comstock (eds.)

Life Science Ethics
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Gary L. Comstock
Editor
Life Science Ethics
Second Edition
Editor
Prof. Gary L. Comstock
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-8103
USA
[email protected]
ISBN 978-90-481-8791-1 e-ISBN 978-90-481-8792-8
DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-8792-8
Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010933359
© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written
permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose
of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
Printed on acid-free paper
Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Dedicated to my brother Doug and the memory
of his beloved wife, Emily Goyer Comstock,
whose grace was exceeded only by her
courage
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Acknowledgments for the Second Edition
The second edition would not have been possible without the support of three
organizations.
The National Science Foundation supported three projects leading to this publi-
cation. The “Advanced Bioethics Ethics Institute” (award #0234227), or Advanced
Life Science Ethics Institute (ALSEI), helped to sponsor international workshops
in Lisbon, Seville, Raleigh, Hannover, and Moscow. Participants developed peda-
gogical materials in Portuguese, Spanish, German, and Russian based on materials
found in the first edition of Life Science Ethics. NSF also sponsored
“A Model Curriculum for Land Grant Universities in Research Ethics” (LANGURE,
award #0530217) and “Extend and Assess Research Ethics Education” (EAREE,
award #0734919), grants that have underwritten the revising, soliciting of new
articles, and editing of the second edition. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions
or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
The National Humanities Center and its Director, Geoffrey Harpham, launched
a project in 2005 to explore challenges to the humanities in the new life sciences
and technologies. During the 2007–09 academic years, the editor enjoyed a research
assignment as one of the Center’s ASC (Autonomy Singularity and Creativity)
Fellows. Of the many debts I owe to the Center, I express just one: to the excep-
tional staff, including librarians Eliza Robertson, Jean Houston, and Josiah Drewry;
copyeditor, Karen Carroll; and digital media producer, Phillip R Barron. Along
with their skilled colleagues at the Center, they made the completion of this book
possible and pleasurable.
The Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science at North Carolina
State University under the direction of Ruben Carbonell sponsored a seminar called
the Life Science Ethics Triangle Workshop in 2004–05. The Kenan Institute’s
participation achieved several objectives, including helping to create synergies
between the NSF and NHC projects.
It is a pleasure to acknowledge these sources of support.
Finally, I thank Drew Comstock for proofreading the galleys.
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Acknowledgments for the First Edition
This book is one of the products of National Science Foundation (NSF) grants
SBR-9254504 and SES-9906244, grants that supported the “Iowa State University
Model Bioethics Institutes.” The Iowa State University Model Institutes are faculty
development workshops for life scientists that began in 1991 at Iowa State. In the
last decade, the Institutes have visited five other U.S. campuses: the University of
Illinois, Michigan State, Purdue, North Carolina State, and Oregon State. In the
year 2000, they expanded to reach an international audience, with Institutes at the
Foundation for Luso-American Development (FLAD), in Lisbon, Portugal. We are
grateful for FLAD’s support, and specifically for the contributions of FLAD’s for-
ward-looking director, Dr. Charles Buchanan.
The majority of this book’s chapters grew out of papers originally presented at
one ISU Model Institute or another. Almost all the case studies in Part III began
their lives as drafts produced at an Institute.
Deeply grateful to NSF for its support, we hasten to offer special recognition of
Dr. Rachelle Hollander, Director of NSF’s Ethics and Values Studies Program.
Dr. Hollander has exhibited extraordinary vision and courage in her efforts to
stimulate the integration of discussions of ethics into the life science curriculum.
Were it not for her efforts in championing a broad range of highly successful
research and teaching projects in the area of science and values, the gap between
the so-called “two cultures” would, alas, be wider than it is.
The editor was able to finish the project thanks to grant support from the
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, under agreement 00-52100-9617. The USDA requires us to add: “Any
opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication
are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.”
Finally, speaking personally, I wish to acknowledge the active support of Patricia
B. Swan, formerly Vice-Provost for Research at Iowa State University. Not only did
Dr. Swan rigorously guard the autonomy and health of the ISU Bioethics Program
during her tenure as Vice-Provost from 1990–2000, she also powerfully shaped the
future of biological education by first suggesting the outlines of what would
become the ISU Bioethics Institute.
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