Ethical Issues in Gene Therapy 
in humans arc now being made. However, such studies ought not 
to be ruled out in advance because of objections about difficult 
linedrawing. 
The third assumption that requires examination is that ethics 
is merely the passive servant of a technological determinism that 
dominates contemporary American culture. Many believe in a softer 
version of this theory, namely, “If it can be done, it will (rather than 
must) be done". Numerous examples can be cited that refute this 
outlook. Much could be done in medical research that is not done 
for primarily ethical reasons. For instance, much could be learned 
from uninhibited research on fetuses destined for abortion. Prior 
to 1974 (Mahoney, 1976, pp. 1-23/24), some examples were found 
here and abroad of opportunistic, morally objectionable fetal re- 
search. Moral concern was expressed in public life and in Congress 
that led to recommendations and eventual regulation of federally- 
funded fetal research that set the prevailing standard of research 
practice (Protection of Human Subjects, 1983). The point is that 
fetal research is perhaps the most efficient way to learn about 
environmental and genetic harm to human life. It can be done. 
However, a principle of equal treatment of all fetuses in research 
effectively restrained some morally objectionable studies and allows 
others that benefit fetuses and infants and also obtain valuable 
biological knowledge. Fetal research can be done, but it is not done 
except within the limits of moral distinctions drawn with care in 
a publicly open process. Does this piece of moral history fit a societal 
diagnosis of technologically determined ethics? Many other examples 
could be discussed, such as limitations on the involvement of pri- 
soners, the poor, and the mentally retarded as research subjects. 
Ethical traditions can be pale reflections of the status quo, but 
they need not be. Ethical thought is influenced by technological 
possibilities because what can be done is sometimes thought to imply 
that it ought to be done. But implications do not serve as the source 
of ethical directives. Human choices, based upon ethical beliefs and 
principles, dimly or clearly recognized, are the primary source of 
ethical directives. Ethics does not have to be determined by the way 
a society defines its needs. Ethics poses a “Why and wherefore? And 
what are the consequences?" to science and technology. Society, 
when its best interests are at stake, can say “No" to some uses of 
technology that violate precious values and principles. Contemporary 
societies are not nearly so passive in the ethical appraisal of tech- 
nology as portrayed by Rifkin and others who share his view. Human 
Recombinant DNA Research, Volume 12 
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