What you’ll learn:

• Basic terms for bioethics
• Basics of ethical arguments
• How decisions are made on critical bioethics issues
• Regulations and public policies related to bioethical issues in Japan and other countries

Week 1: Ethics of Assisted Reproductive Technology

• What is Assisted Reproductive Technology?
• Sex Selection
• Pros & Cons of Sex Selection
• Ethical Issues Associated with Assisted Reproductive Technology

Week 2: The Ethics of Truth-Telling

• Cancer and Its Disclosure in Japan
• Pros & Cons of Cancer Disclosure
• Paternalism & Self-Determination
• Informed Consent & Patient-Centered Medicine

Week 3: Is Abortion Murder?

• Current Situation of Abortion in Japan
• Ethical Discussions in Japan
• Ethical Discussions in Europe & America
• Social Problems Related to Abortion

Week 4: What’s wrong with Enhancement?

• Use of Medical Technologies for Enhancement
• The Ethical Pros and Cons of Enhancement – The Anti-Use Position
• The Ethical Pros and Cons of Enhancement – Where Are Enhancement Technologies Heading?

Week 5: Is Euthanasia Wrong?

• Euthanasia and Death with Dignity
• Japanese Cases of Euthanasia
• For and Against Euthanasia
• Palliative Medicine
• Living Wills

Week 6: Living-Donor Organ Transplantation

• Organ Transplantation
• The History of Organ Transplantation
• Living-Donor Organ Transplantation and Ethical Problems
• Organ Trafficking
• Living-Donor Organ Transplants: Exception or the Rule?

Week 7: Cloning Technology

• Media Reports on the Birth of Dolly the Cloned Sheep and “the Birth of a Human Clone”
• Two Purposes of Cloning and Ethical Controversy
• Regulation of Human Cloning
• Discussion with the Instructor – Part 1

Week 8: ES Cells and iPS Cells

• Production of ES Cells and Regenerative Medicine
• Barriers to ES Cell Production
• The Production of iPS Cells
• Problems of iPS Cells

Week 9: Lifespan and Eternal Life

• Human Lifespan in the Past, Present, and Future
• Effects of Life-Extension Technologies on the Individual
• Effects of Life-Extension Technologies on Society
• Discussion with the Instructor – Part 2

Week 10: Brain Death and Organ Transplants

• The Organ Transplant Law and its Revision in Japan
• The Process of Organ Donation
• Ethical Controversy over Brain Death 1
• Ethical Controversy over Brain Death 2

“It was much more fun than I studied life ethics alone. I could read the opinion of the person of various countries and was able to have a valuable experience. Thank you very much for your advice.”