UVIC Philosophy Students' Union

Here is Alexandra Mogyoros’ (University of Guelph) abstract for “The Ethics of Bio-banking”

 As scientific research and biotechnologies continue to advance at an unprecedented pace, it is of the utmost importance that we critically and actively explore which ethical frameworks will be the most appropriate to govern these technologies.

Biobanks, that is, repositories used to store genetic material and information and then distributed for research, are an example of a biotechnological advancement that carries a significant value impact.  Biobanking has raised many ethical issues; for instance, how we define informed consent, what constitutes ownership over genetic material, and if the right to withdrawal from research can always be honoured given the logistics of genetic research.  One tension that underlies the majority of these issues is the clash between individual rights and freedoms versus public, or collective, good. 

This paper examines the two ethical frameworks, solidarity and autonomy based, that are currently being used to govern the protocol of biobanking.  It then examines what criteria are appropriate to evaluate a regulatory framework implemented in Canada, and continues to explore the implications of the solidarity and autonomy framework being used to govern biobanks in Canada.  This paper concludes that while a solidarity-based offers several benefits in the realm of genetic research, it ultimately does not protect the fundamental rights and values of Canadians. 

Here is a little bit about Alexandra, courtesy of the Canada Research Chair in Science and Society.

Alexandra is a soon to be graduate of the Bachelors of Arts and Science program at the University of Guelph, where she specialized in both biology and philosophy. Her research interests include ge3ls issues, research ethics, human enhancement, and ownership and privacy issues, especially as they pertain to genetic material. Her prior research experience includes being awarded an Ontario Genomics Institute Summer Fellowship, where she conducted original research on the ethical and legal implications of biobanks, and a position as a summer student in the Bioethics Department at Sick Kids Hospital, where she examined emerging trends in the standards of practice for clinical ethics consultations. A student representative for the Canadian Bioethics Society, Alexandra also co-founded the University of Guelph’s first undergraduate philosophy journal-Agora. Alexandra plans to continue to explore her research interests at a graduate level.