Written by Joss Duggan (Reading Time: 10 mins)

Origins: From Hippocrates to AI

We live in an age where science fiction keeps getting reclassified as non-fiction. AI diagnoses diseases with remarkable accuracy, gene-editing tools can snip out genetic flaws, and researchers are actively debating whether aging itself is an illness to be cured. In short, we're hurtling toward a future where "just because we can" keeps running headfirst into "should we, though?"

This is the realm of bioethics - a field that exists because human ingenuity often outpaces human wisdom. Bioethics forces us to grapple with some of the messiest and most uncomfortable questions in science and medicine.

Dr Ian Malcolm: Mathematician, Chaos Theoretician, Theme Park Enthusiast.

Bioethics isn’t new. Ancient physicians like Hippocrates were already hashing out ethical dilemmas when the most advanced medical tool was a very sharp rock. The Hippocratic Oath, dating back to around 400 BCE, laid down rules still relevant today: do no harm, keep patient details secret, and try not to make things worse than they already are.

But fast-forward a couple of thousand years, and the dilemmas got a lot more complex. The 20th century saw atrocities like Nazi medical experiments and the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study, which led to the creation of ethical guardrails like the Nuremberg Code (1947) and the Belmont Report (1979). Today, we’re wrestling with questions that past ethicists never imagined—like whether AI should have a medical license or if we should let people edit their own DNA.

The Four Pillars of Bioethics

“The advancement of science must be accompanied by an equal advancement in ethics”

— Albert Schweitzer

To keep things structured, modern bioethics is often built around four main principles, outlined by Beauchamp and Childress in Principles of Biomedical Ethics (1979):

Autonomy – People should have control over their own bodies. This underpins everything from informed consent to debates about euthanasia.
Beneficence – Do good. Help people. Straightforward until you get into thorny issues like vaccine mandates, where individual choice conflicts with the greater good.
Non-Maleficence – Do no harm. This principle is why scientists don’t inject themselves with experimental serums just to see what happens.
Justice – Resources should be distributed fairly. In an ideal world, this means equal access to medical treatment. In reality, it means arguing over drug pricing and organ transplants.

Of course, these principles constantly clash—because ethics, much like a group chat about where to eat, is rarely simple.

Key Debates in Bioethics

1. Genetic Engineering: Playing God, or an Evolutionary Nudge?

CRISPR has handed humanity the power to rewrite DNA with precision. We can already edit out genetic diseases—should we also tweak for intelligence or athletic ability? The ethical line between curing disease and creating designer babies is alarmingly thin.

The big fear? That we stumble into a Gattaca-style dystopia where genes determine social status. Then again, if we have the power to eliminate suffering, isn’t not using it also unethical?

2. AI in Healthcare: Helpful Assistant or Robot Overlord?

AI is already diagnosing diseases, assisting in surgeries, and making medical decisions faster than humans. But should an algorithm determine who gets an ICU bed during a resource shortage? AI lacks human bias, but it also lacks human empathy.

There’s also the "black box" problem. Many AI models can’t explain how they make decisions, which raises concerns about accountability in life-and-death situations.

3. The Right to Die: Autonomy vs. The Sanctity of Life

Assisted suicide is legal in some places, completely banned in others, and debated everywhere. If bodily autonomy is a fundamental right, should that include the right to end one’s life? Or does legal euthanasia create a risk of coercion?

The ethical dilemma is whether legal euthanasia protects vulnerable people or introduces risks that outweigh its benefits.

4. Organ Transplants: Who Gets a Second Chance?

The demand for organs vastly exceeds supply, leading to ethical dilemmas. Should priority go to younger patients? Should alcoholics receive liver transplants? Should we legalize organ markets to eliminate the black market?

Some countries use an opt-out system (where everyone is a donor unless they say otherwise), while others require explicit consent. Which is more ethical? It depends on whether you prioritize individual choice or maximising life-saving transplants.

5. Longevity Science: Should We Extend Life Indefinitely?

Aging researchers argue that extending human lifespan is just another medical challenge. Critics point out that if everyone starts living to 150, we’ll face economic and social problems.

There’s also the issue of access—if longevity treatments are only available to the ultra-wealthy, do we risk a future where the rich quite literally live forever while the rest of us don’t?

“If you think science leads to absolute truth, you do not understand science. If you think ethics leads to absolute morality, you do not understand ethics”

— Carl Sagan

What kind of future are we ushering in?

Science isn’t slowing down, and neither are the ethical dilemmas. Neural implants may soon let us merge with AI - should we allow that level of cognitive enhancement? Lab-grown embryos challenge our definitions of life - when does personhood begin?

Some argue we need global bioethics regulations to prevent "ethics shopping," where people go to different countries for procedures banned at home. Others warn that overregulation could strangle innovation. Either way, these debates are just getting started.

Bioethics isn’t just academic theory; it affects real people, real policies, and real futures. The choices we make today will shape medicine, society, and even what it means to be human. The challenge is to ensure that our ethical thinking evolves as fast as our science does.

Because at the end of the day, the question isn’t just what we can do - it’s what kind of world we want to live in.

Only Human: A Primer on Bioethics