Art by Victor Beck ’20 | A comedic depiction of the first ever cloned sheep and its ethical controversies.
Victor Beck ’20
THE ROUNDUP
The newly installed Bioethics club pushes students to thoughtfully think and debate the morality behind many biotechnological advances.
Club leader, Ari Mehta ’20, wants to turn the Bioethics club into a safe place where students can debate and assess the ethical morality to many topical technological advances.
“My goal when creating this club was to create a forum for analyzing and discussing new advances in the field of the biotechnology, as well as a location to civilly debate the benefits and drawbacks of these developments,” said Mehta.
Mehta seeks to draw in students interested in the medical and engineering fields to be active participants in the club.
“On campus, we aim to provide a hub of information for Brophy students interested in the medical and biomedical engineering fields. Additionally, we want to stimulate students to think about the biological advances which will be made in their lifetimes and think critically about the choices they may one day face, said Mehta.
Brody Asheim ’20 attends the meetings frequently and describes the club as being very engaging and thought provoking.
“It’s not a boring speech a teacher would give, it’s very interactive. When I went in to the club it was just to support a friend, but like I feel more interested in science than I ever have, and I believe teachers should incorporate this more,” said Asheim.
Asheim further describes the club as a way in which students can learn more about ongoing topics and innovations such as cloning and the ethical approach that needs to be considered.
“To grasp more knowledge on things that most people wouldn’t know about, for example cloning, many people consider it funny, but it’s definitely more than that, and I really suggest people come out and learn for themselves what else there is,” said Asheim.
Mr. Mazzolini is the club’s moderator and feels the conversations they are having are very important and essential in today’s society.
“I think it’s important to have those discussions that addresses those hard questions about ethics, about whether it’s right to do something just because we can do it,” said Mr. Mazzolini.
Mr. Mazzolini shares the need for more dialogue just as a way of preparation for the future technologies and innovations that are soon to come.
“Unfortunately, you can’t stop people from doing anything, if it’s possible people are going to do it, so it’s about how to address that, and the ethical rules once in place that can be further applied to other things that haven’t been done yet,” said Mr. Mazzolini.
