The international race: economic and ethical implications

Charis Thompson’s article “Asian Regeneration?” offers an interesting perspective on stem cell research, looking past just the moral implications of breakthroughs in the field in an effort to analyze the political and economic factors that play a role in the international bio-technology and medical industries.  Thompson does this by researching stem cell research in Asia, specifically South Korea and Singapore.  These countries have experienced rapid economic growth in the last several decades.  Furthermore, the bio-medical industry has become an international force, leading to the exchange of ideas, personnel, thoughts on the roles of scientists and research institutions in culture, and considerably large amounts of money. The rapid growth of this industry has forced rapid changes in laws, religion and ethics, as well as shifts in economic and scientific power.  For example, such research has lead East Asian stem cell ethicists to come up with Confucian ethical precepts to guide stem cell regulation, in part as a response to Western ideas of ethics and the ethical barriers that currently exist in Western countries preventing stem cell research on the same scale as Asia.  The change in culture and religion to allow for an expanding technological frontier is a prime example of science’s transformative nature within society.

           What I find extraordinary is the rise of a nationalistic perspective on science.  This viewpoint is exemplified by the story surrounding Dr. Hwang Woo-Suk’s research and his subsequent international disgrace.  However, it demonstrates the great pride taken in innovation in these countries as well as the crucial role that science plays in culture.  Scientific advancement in Asia has been found to indicate superiority on the international stage.

           Finally, Thompson mentions the growth of medical tourism.  Prior to reading this article, I had not considered the possibility of individuals going to different countries in order to access different treatments.  Beyond the economic effects of such tourism, it becomes clear that medicine and research play key roles in which countries have power and which do not as well as the very international world we now live in.  Individuals no longer exist in ways that inhibit them from taking advantage of different countries and their laws.  However, the differences between countries highlight the large gaps in knowledge and perhaps illustrate a certain ethical danger of capitalistic approaches to science.  Perhaps science advances too quickly for law, ethics, and society, with the international scientific race only increasing the pace at which science outruns the boundaries of society’s understanding.