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Forensics and Biotechnology
What's the relation?
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The point of this class, titled Biotechnology and Human Values, was to get us to think about how the advancements of science relate to our lives. We discussed the ethics that are involved with biotechnology, and how ethics relates to each of our fields. As I mentioned on the section entitled Ethics Behind Forensic Science, ethics is very important to forensics, and all the sciences.
Forensics is also greatly involved in stem cell research, another topic we covered in class. The lab techniques and DNA analysis processes that are used by forensic scientists are very important to that research. Without some of the technology that forensic scientists use, stem cell research would not be possible.
There is a lot of forensic research pertaining to bioterrorism, especially after the events of September and October of 2001. Forensic labs were swamped trying to figure out some of the mystery of what was wrong with the World Trade Center Towers' structure, and why they fell the way they did. Without them, we might never know how such a magnificent structure could have collapsed in such a few minutes. There is a continuing terrorist threat on the United States, and forensic scientists are preparing for any attack that may occur. They are attempting to build new detection devices to protect our airports and large buildings from terrorist attempts. Research for cures to smallpox and anthrax is ongoing. More recently there were the DC sniper attacks. It was forensic scientists in the department of ballistics that uncovered who the attackers were. They used precise firearms identification by comparing bullet fragments from one of the sniper's victims. As you can see, all aspects of forensics are greatly related to the biotechnological world.
I've talked about how biotechnology is directly related to forensics, but how are these two things directly related to our human values? Well, ethics is a big part of it. Scientists have to be careful not to cross the border between the good of science for mankind, and the good of science. Biotechnology is used to make advancements in science that will benefit our lives. If it has no benefits, then why bother? This is where ethics come in. Scientific advancements should not be made if they will potentially harm the living or the environment. Scientists also need to think about the human race as a whole. When doing research, they need to remember that what they are researching should be able to be used by everyone, not just a few people. Our values need to guide us in the sciences. The sciences should not guide our values.
This is a site created for ISSI470, an academic course at Monmouth College.
