Taking a Look at Bioinformatics

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Recommended: Importance of bioethics

Bioinformatics is the use of biology, mathematics, and computer science to answer biological questions. Through the use of biological databases, researchers are able to manage genetic information (Hodgman, French, & Westhead, 2010). A part that bioinformatics has is the lack of ethics being implemented in their studies. Bioethics, defined as the potential influence of life sciences in our society, using ethics, philosophy and societal observations (Bioethics, n.d). Relevant ethical questions, as well as the approach to education and teaching are the bio ethical concerns with bioinformatics.
Ethics in the curriculum of bioinformatics programs is minimal. More emphasis could be given on legal and social issues in bioinformatics researching and exploring upcoming technologies. Many programs do not believe topics such as "reproductive cloning, genetically modified foods, gene therapy and clinical trials, human stem cell experimentation, experiments on aborted embryos or fetal tissues, patenting molecules, transgenic technologies, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, and assisted reproduction" because it is not a high priority concern in the field of bioinformatics compared to other biological fields. Hence, blame could be placed on professors and their curriculum for cause on this challenging issue. The figure below was a random study of bioinformatics undergraduate and graduate programs. The study tested for courses like “ethic seminars, short courses, compulsory courses or elective courses related” (Taneri, 2011). The data indicated that majority of the institutions did not have an (bio) ethics courses in the curriculum.

Another cause for ethical issues facing bioinformatics is the government and publications from bioinfo...

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...cal questions related to bioinformatics. Therefore, building awareness can in the long run solve questions. The lack of ethics being incorporated with Bioinformatics programs in the United States and Europe is also a concern. Recently Yale University has required students to take a research ethics seminar and Stanford University introduced medical information science, which focuses on ethical, legal and social implications. If more top universities integrate bio (ethics) into their curriculum, it can cause a domino effect with other institutions. Furthermore, other things that could be useful in resolving this issue are through students voicing their opinion. Students voice can influence a new point of view on learning and teaching. These significant strides will ultimately advance breakthroughs in the field and solve the issue of ethical courses in bioinformatics.

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