| Research Abstract |
Interviews and surveys with people in a range of occupations were conducted in Japan. Analysis methods for categorizing open comments were developed, and compared between written survey methods and face-to-face interviews. The results suggest that people from all areas of society can participate in debates about science with a range of viewpoints. There appear to be few demographic predictors of attitudes, e.g.for people to focus more on the benefits, risks or moral acceptability, of technology.
A project to test the interest in different subjects for inclusion in a bioethics text book for schools began in the second year of the grant, based on discussions made with biology and social studies teachers in Japan and other countries, and bioethics experts in different countries. 20 case chapters for teaching bioethics were made, tested in classes, and are being revised. Topics included the following : Autonomy, Justice, Benefits versus risks, Animal rights?, Intrinsic and extrinsic ethical
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factors, Genetic testing and privacy, Trash and Treasure Activity on Testing for cancer gene susceptibility, AIDS Testing, The Heart Transplant, Ethics and Driving Cars, Ecotourism and ethics, Sustainable Development, Euthanasia, Telling the truth about terminal cancer, Genetic engineering and Food, Reproduction and Fertility, In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Technology, Artificial insemination, Sperm, Egg and Embryo Donation, Surrogacy, Somatic Cell Gene Therapy, Germ-line gene therapy, Human cloning, Eugenics, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).
As chapters are written, revised and edited, they will be tested by a network of teachers in different countries. Meetings of teachers and experts occurred in Tsukuba from 13-16 February 2004. Communication with teachers and coordinators in Australia, China, Korea, India, Japan, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, the Philippines, Poland, and Taiwan has been made. Some school and university teachers have conducted trials. The main products of the project are : 1)Materials for teaching bioethics ; 2)A textbook that could be used in school and university classes to teach about bioethical issues ; and 3)A network of teachers in different countries. We can measure the success of bioethics education in several ways. Some goals of bioethics identified from discussions with teachers include : 1)Increasing respect for life ; 2)Balancing benefits and risks of Science and Technology ; 3)Understanding better the diversity of views of different persons. We do not need to achieve all three goals to consider a class to be successful, and different teachers and schools put a different amount of emphasis on each goal. Less
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