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This glossary offers some useful definitions of terms and acronyms that are used in the discussion of bioethical issues.
For ease of understanding this Glossary is divided into sections including:
Autonomy, Competence and Informed Consent are fundamental concepts in Bioethics.
An individual’s ability to freely make their own decisions in accordance with their own values, without coercion, manipulation or deceit.
Thus, to act against someone’s wishes or to act without someone’s permission would be a violation of their autonomy. Patient autonomy is held as the primary ethical principle in health care decision making in New Zealand.
Beauchamp and Childress are seminal authors within the area of autonomy, competence and informed consent. They offer the following definition of competence:
“A patient or subject is competent to make a decision if he or she has the capacity to understand the material information, to make a judgement about the information in light of his or her values, to intend a certain outcome, and to freely communicate his or her wish to caregivers or investigators.” (1994, p 135)
Competence is a difficult thing to assess even in the simplest of adult cases, as it is a dynamic concept, varying in accordance with the specific situation. Buchanan and Brock (1989) point out that the statement that a particular individual “is”, or “is not”, competent is incomplete. Competence is always competence relating to some task – it is competence to do something.
An individual’s voluntary agreement to undergo a diagnostic, preventative or therapeutic procedure, or to participate in research, based on their knowledge and understanding of all relevant information.
Claims that are justified by legal principles and rules.
Claims justified by moral principles and rules.
An individual’s voluntary agreement to undergo a diagnostic, preventative or therapeutic procedure, or to participate in research, based on their knowledge and understanding of all relevant information.
Blastomeres are the initial cells of the early embryo. For example, two to three days after fertilisation, the human embryo consists of eight blastomeres. At this early stage each of the cells is Totipotent.
Blastocyst is the stage approximately four days after fertilisation and after several cycles of cell division when the totipotent cells begin to specialize, forming a hollow sphere of cells. The blastocyst looks a little like an inverted diamond ring, with a layer of outer cells and inside the hollow sphere, a cluster of cells called the inner cell mass.
The outer layer of cells will go on to form the placenta, amniotic fluid and other supporting tissues needed for foetal development in the uterus.
It is cells from the ‘inner cell mass’ that can become any of the over 200 tissues that make up the human body. The cells of the inner cell mass are pluripotent.
Cloning is the process of creating copies of a biological entity including fragments of DNA, whole cells, or whole organisms.
Essential to any discussion regarding human cloning is the distinction between therapeutic and reproductive cloning.
Human Reproductive cloning wants to create complete individuals that will live and grow into adulthood much like any naturally conceived child.
In contrast, Therapeutic cloning seeks to produce single tissues or organs that may be used for analysis, treatment and healing.
The early stages of growth and differentiation between zygote and foetus. In humans, the embryo is the stage between zygote and the end of the eighth week after fertilisation.
A mature ovum or sperm. A gamete contains a single set of unpaired chromosomes necessary to form a new individual. Gametes may also be referred to as “germ line” cells as they contribute to the next generation. Gametes are formed through the specialised cell division called meiosis.
The stage between embryo and birth when the developing vertebrate exhibits recognisable features of the mature animal. In humans, the foetal stage is recognised as being from the end of the eighth week after fertilisation until birth.
The stage, approximately 14 days after fertilisation when the cells of the inner cell mass specialise and become committed to become cells that have a particular ‘bodily’ function. It is only after individuation that there is no longer a chance that the embryo will divide into monozygotic twins.
The female gamete also referred to as the egg, oocyte or female sex cell.
Cells of the developing embryo that have plural potential. It is these cells that are important in the stem cell debate. To use these cells destroys the embryo.
IVF: In Vitro Fertilisation – the joining of egg and sperm outside the body.
Beauchamp T.L. & Childress J.F. (1994) Principles of biomedical ethics.4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
Buchanan A.E. & Brock D.W. (1989) Deciding for others: The ethics of surrogate decision making. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
