Sanjukta Bhattacharya

Of Bioethics, Stem Cells, and Tissue Transplants

The concepts of tissue transplant, autograft, allograft, and the use of redundant material for regeneration existed prior to their scientific discoveries in the West and the formation of terminology to describe them. The issue of bioethics was not raised in the societies where these things were practiced because the culture of these societies saw the cure of diseases and preservation of life as a primary focus of medicine, and their philosophical bases were humanistic and benevolent toward all living beings.

Of Democracies, Wars and Responses to War: A Comparative Perspective on War and Security in India and the United States

War has existed from the beginning of human history and will continue in centuries to come even if all states accept democracy as their preferred form of government. The United States and India are both democracies and both have been involved in wars and conflicts since their inception as democracies. However, they face different threats and their responses to challenges have been different. Geopolitics, a country’s status in the world, historical background and other factors shape a country’s responses to crisis situations, and sometimes its democratic credentials play a very small role in this. America’s superpower status and its objective of maintaining its unique position has often coloured its responses to security challenges. India is a comparatively new democracy, and its main concern till recently has been to maintain its territorial security. However, it is an ‘emerging’ country and is now seen as emerging as a global player. Will its changing status have an effect on its foreign policy responses?

Revisiting Ideas and Ideologies in African-American Social Economy: From the Past Forward

The presentation re-visits ideas and ideologies of past African-American thinkers on economic development in a holistic manner, placing them in the context of their times. It is true that many of them advocated collectives, cooperatives, and group enterprise but were these an end in itself, or were they promoting such activities as a measure toward equal status in the USA, that is, until they could avail of equal economic opportunity on their own? In fact, even those who encouraged exclusion from the economic mainstream did not abandon the US territorial space or its market economy. Where necessary, collectives and cooperatives will provide the necessary boost for survival and developing opportunities for the betterment of African Americans.

Ethics Pertaining to the Use of Aborted Human Tissues for Research and Therapeutic Purposes

With recent advancements in the field of medical science, tissue engineering, organ transplantation, human embryonic stem cell research and aborted fetal tissue transplants are becoming an attractive source for new scientific exploration and innovation in the field of medicine and healthcare. Human tissues can be used for transplantation studies and therapeutics as well as for in vitro purposes in understanding the simple and basic biology of different ailments as well as in the search for a better cure. However, like any other drug therapy or drug discovery process, tissue experimentation generates intensive debate in terms of ethics and law. Whether it is moral or immoral to use different aborted materials like embryonic stem cells from the inner cell mass or fetal tissues are discussed in this chapter, as these are the two primary materials that are obtained from aborted fetuses and are currently intense topics of discussion regarding their ethical use for experimental and therapeutic purposes.

The Mystery of the Survival of the Human Fetus in Utero

The study of the body’s immunity and immune defense system has enabled physicians to understand how in a successful pregnancy, the baby is allowed to grow inside the mother’s body without being rejected. All healthy individuals have an immune system that will reject germs, viruses and donated organs, e.g., kidneys, hearts and livers, with the immune rejection reaction. However, during a successful pregnancy, this outside interference with the mother’s immune system in not activated.

Vaccination of the Unborn: A Perspective

Shortly after the Salk and Sabin polio vaccines had demonstrated the transformative benefits of childhood vaccination but long before the ill-informed controversy over the measles–mumps–rubella vaccine became a concern for refusal of vaccination, the Vaccination Assistance Act of 1962 established a U.S. vaccination program against polio, diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. With that effort launched and growing attention directed at imminent vaccination campaigns against influenza, measles, and rubella, a leadership group was formed by the US Government. That group, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), marks its 50th anniversary this year (2015) [1]. Vaccine refusal not only increases the individual’s risk of disease but also increases the risk for the whole community. As a result of substantial gains in reducing vaccine-preventable diseases, the memory of several infectious diseases has faded from public consciousness and the risk–benefit calculus seems to have shifted in favor of the perceived risks of vaccination in some parents’ minds [2].

Ethics and Moral Principles in the Practice of Medicine

Medical ethics is a system of moral principles that applies morality and value judgments to the practice of medicine. Just like any other branch of ethics, there can be no universal code of value judgments because these depend on cultures and cultures differ in practice of daily life. What may be judged as common practice in one culture may be considered totally unethical in another. For instance, widow remarriage is part of the Christian and Islamic cultures from the very beginning but was forbidden and considered unethical as well as illegal leading to ostracization in the Hindu culture till the British brought their own (Christian) culture to prevail in India. However, certain tenets of ethics are applicable across the board even though there may be deviant groups who believe in just the opposite, and among them, one of the most important is the sanctity of life. Medical ethics encompasses the sanctity of life and all that goes with it.

Of Baul Behavior, Stem Cell Primitive Application?

Bauls are a secretive sect in rural Bengal who live in their own social groups/communes and follow their own norms. The Bauls of Bengal have their own syncretic religious beliefs largely based on ideas taken from Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism. Bauls disregard social constraints such as the caste system, and this allows them freedom to achieve liberation through their own versions/perceptions of the realization of the Divinity.

Placental Umbilical Cord Whole Blood and Nuclear Disaster Management: A Possibility

In 1958, six physicists were exposed to large doses of neutron irradiation following an accident at Veneza, Yugoslavia. They were sent to France and treated with multiple transfusions of homologous bone marrow. Four of the victims had successful temporary bone marrow grafts as part of the treatment [1]. In serious radiation injury, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) may occur, particularly in patients who have their marrow completely ablated, but this would be difficult to detect in the first 72 h. GVHD, however, can usually be adequately treated with cord blood because of its very minor nature.

Fetal Blood Research: A Brief Perspective on the Present, Past, and Future of This Exciting Field

All over the world, millions of people are saved every year as a result of blood transfusions. At the same time, many, particularly in developing countries, still die because of an inadequate supply of safe blood and blood products. A reliable supply of safe blood is essential to improve health standards at several levels, especially among women and children, and particularly in the poorer sections of society anywhere in the world. Half a million women still die of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, and 99 % of these are in developing countries. Hemorrhage accounts for 25 % of the complications and is the most common cause of maternal death. Malnutrition, thalassemia, and severe anemia are prevalent diseases in children which require blood transfusion, apart from other complicated diseases.