From genome mapping, choosing the sex of your child and cloning, there are a wide variety of biotechnology ethics issues surrounding our current culture. Biotech ethics stem from moral foundations to patient safety, and having a background in, as well as keeping up with, ethics of biotechnology will help your company from doing anything questionable in the eyes of your patients or the government.

Ethics in biotechnology will soon take us from the point of "can we do?" to "should we do?" Life has been extended longer, drug trials are becoming more extensive and xenotransplantation (transplantation of living tissue) is becoming commonplace. Where do we draw the line, though?

To find out more about the ethical, social, legal, philosophical and other biotechnology and ethics issues:

1. Determine if you have any biotechnology industry ethics regulations that you have to consider before even beginning your project.

2. Make sure your current project is compliant with ethical biotechnology standards.

3. Determine if you need consultation on ethics in biotech.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find out biotechnology ethics information

Find biotech ethics background info and the latest news to stay abreast of current information in the field.

I recommend: Check out the articles, cases, and links from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Look at the index of issues regarding bioethics from the National Health Museum. Keep up with the latest news from the University of Oxford's Practical Ethics- Ethical Perspectives on the News. Find out goals and special announcements from groups like the Delaware Biotechnology Institute.

Study the legal issues surrounding biotech ethics

Be knowledgeable as to biotech ethics legal resources for your business or your research project.

I recommend: Find out more about the legal issues that surround the bioethics topic through The Center for High Performance Computing at the University of New Mexico. Find out more about bioethics law in New York State from the UB Center for Clinical Ethics and Humanities in Health Care. Look at Harvard University's efforts to maintain high bioethics standards through their organization Ethics, Law and Biotechnology (E.L.A.B.). Consider legal consultation from service providers like Paul D. Friedman.

Look at government sites regarding ethics in biotechnology

Take advantage of government information surrounding the topic of ethical biotechnology.

I recommend: Check out the online bioethics resources and information from the National Human Genome Research Institute. Look at the information available through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Human Subjects Research. The NIH Clinical Center Department of Bioethics also offers courses, lectures, fellowship opportunities and research. Find out about the issues pertaining bioethics from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP). Find out more about the bioethics issues surrounding minorities, race and genomics from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Human Genome Program site.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Staying on top of ethics in biotechnology will help your company or research projects be held in the highest regards as far as standards practices. Consider ethics morality and biotechnology consultation, though, if anything may seem questionable.