Medical biotechnologies : are there effective ethical arguments for policy making?

The intensity of moral controversy over the development of groundbreaking medical biotechnologies can hardly be overstated.1 Studies conducted by scientists in genetics, cloning, and stem-cell research have often become the news headlines that are not only exciting but also disquieting. On the one hand, by gaining new knowledge and technologies in areas such as genetic engineering or stem-cell therapy, biomedical scientists hold a great hope that a number of debilitating but currently incurable conditions, such as cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs disease, Alzheimer’s disease, spinal-cord injury, and diabetes, can in time be prevented or cured. If the technologies mature and expand, a healthier-thanever population can be expected.