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1、Unit Seeing Both SidesUnit 8 Seeing Both Sides A Tape scripts Chinas long acknowledged symbol, the dragon, may not be suitable for the image of China anymore. At least thats according to a report in the Shanghai Morning Post, the paper quotes experts at the Shanghai Public Relations Association who
2、said the dragon is to some extent a symbol of arbitrariness and offensiveness in western cultures. This they say could result in a negative view of Chinas image abroad. Now they are designing a new Chinese symbol based on positive Chinese characteristics. However the move has triggered disagreement
3、in the public domain and an Internet survey shows that an overwhelming majority of people believe that as descendents of the dragon, the image of the dragon is deeply rooted in Chinese peoples psyche and cant simply be abandoned. In traditional Chinese culture, the dragon represents the emperors pow
4、er and it is also a symbol of good luck and wealth. B Tape scripts Biofuels have been held in some quarters as an answer to global warming. Supporters argued that the plants which are grown to be turned into fuel capture the carbon dioxide that is emitted when the fuel is burned. They are already us
5、ed in some road vehicles, but they have never been tried in aero planes. But now a Virgin Atlantic aircraft has been flown from London to Amsterdam to test an aviation fuel made from crops to show it actually works. A Boeing 747 takes off, powered partly by coconut oil. Virgin Atlantic say they are
6、testing a new biofuel, a mixture of coconut oil and babassu nut oil from a Brazilian palm tree. Flying a jumbo jet at 30,000 feet on an alternative energy has never been done before. Richard Branson, Chief Executive of Virgin Atlantic says it is the future of air travel and aviation history. Its a m
7、ajor sort of technological breakthrough today in that everybody said that it was impossible for clean fuels to fly at 30,000 feet in a jet engine and we believe that we were going to be able to prove them wrong. But Virgins test Unit 8 Step by Step 3000, Book IV 1 flight hasnt been welcomed by envir
8、onmentalists, instead it has been dismissed as a stunt by some, and attacked by others. Jos Dings from the European Federation for Transport and Environment. The fact that something is called biofuel, doesnt mean that its green. The fact that it is alternative fuel, doesnt mean that its a green fuel
9、. It depends crucially on what sort of biofuel you use, how much land that biofuel actually uses. If Virgin would power its entire fleet with biofuel, it would have to use about half of the UKs arable land. The campaign group Friends of the Earth call the test flight a distraction and a gimmick. The
10、 Campaign against Climate Change say the belief this biofuel emits less carbon than conventional fuel is nonsense. They point to evidence that the growing processing and burning of biofuels emits other greenhouse gases, and their benefits unnegligible. Virgin Atlantic say the fuel isnt perfect, but
11、it could be a new beginning of aviation. C Tape scripts You will be aware of the controversy in Europe and over food that has been genetically modified. But scientists want to do this? Well, genetic engineering could be used to repair a genetic .,defect, as with the current scientific trials of gene
12、 therapy in humans; to make a characteristic already natural to that organism even better, for example, to increase the growth rate of a crop; to improve resistance to disease or outside damage, for example, crop disease or resistance to cold or drought; to make the organism do something it would no
13、t normally do, for example, getting a tomato to ripen without going soft - this can be done simply by taking one of its own genes, turning its pattern upside down and putting it back again ! It sounds like an amazing new technology, but opinions differ greatly on the pros and cons of genetically eng
14、ineered food (GE food). Supporters of GE food say that GE crops will reduce chemical inputs to the land, help the environment, increase the possibility of growing crops in difficult geographic areas, improve nutritional qualities of food. Opponents of GE food say that GE crops may upset the complex
15、environmental balance , create many new non-reversible ecological problems, increase the dominance of major corporations and disadvantage small farmers, as these rich corporations will Unit 8 Step by Step 3000, Book IV 2 control seed varieties, at the worst, cause damage to the human immune system a
16、nd cause cancer. At the moment, there is much controversy surrounding GE food. Some people claim GE food is safe for humans and safe for the environment and will benefit everyone. Some say they support research into GE food because they recognize the possible benefits for economic food supply in the
17、 future. But many also say that nothing has yet been proved for this new technology and the risks are so great, that it is wise to go slow. None of the GE foods so far produced are at all necessary. So why are they being sold? Why not wait longer until more scientific trials are carried out? Some sa
18、y no to GE foods. They are not worth the risk to the environment and our health. They say organic or semi-organic farming is the answer to feeding the world. This type of farming needs lots of labor, but needs no debt and no large corporations. Others are angry that GE food is already being sold and
19、 that there is no way for consumers to know if they are consuming food made from plants that have had their genes altered in a laboratory. They feel that they have been tricked by big corporations and they do not like being human guinea pigs for this new GE food. They insist on clear labeling on foo
20、d packaging to show whether GE food products are present. It is a brave new world we are facing in the twenty-first century. As the molecular biologist Michael Antoniou says: “Genetic engineering and conventional breeding are worlds apart.” What Nature has done for us for millions of years is now su
21、ddenly out-of-date. Todays scientists face huge problems in deciding whether the benefits of the new technology are worth the risks. It is your future that is being decided here. It might be worth offering the scientists some guidance. Tape scripts Liane: Trust was a word that was used early and oft
22、en during the campaign, and when it comes to politicians, people really must think about whether they can trust their representatives to represent them. But when it comes to the relationship between a patient and doctor, the word trust should be a given. Doctors are, after all, supposed to Unit 8 St
23、ep by Step 3000, Book IV 3 do whats best for us and this involves telling the truth. However, on occasion, a doctor must choose between being truthful and acting in the patients best interest. We asked our medical commentators, Drs Michael Wilkes and Miriam Shuchman to join us with their opinions on
24、 this subject. Good morning to both of you. Both: Good morning, Liane. Liane : Miriam, when might a doctor choose not to tell a patient the truth? Miriam: Well, Liane, there are actually several situations when a doctor might be tempted to deceive a patient. It used to be that if a patient was diagn
25、osed with a serious form of cancer, the doctor wouldnt even tell them. That wouldnt happen anymore . uh . . but the doctor might be tempted to paint a more optimistic picture than is really the case, so if this was a cancer where the patient has three to six months to live, the doctor might not tell
26、 them that. They might just tell them that its very serious. Michael: My worry, though, is that doctors might also paint a more rosy picture in order to convince a patient to undergo a more aggressive treatment, say , chemotherapy , a treatment that they might not under . . . or choose to undergo if
27、 they had more information. To, to me, uh, there really is no distinction between withholding information from a person and outright lying. In both cases, the doctor is being paternalistic. Hes deciding what information the patient needs to know. Miriam: I think that as doctors, though, were always
28、in the position of deciding what information to give a patient. We dont want to overburden them with too many details that could just be frightening and not useful. But we want them to have the information thats really important for making decisions. Michael: Yeah, but can you ever really know what
29、a patient thinks is important? Every piece of information that a doctor gives a patient is filtered through the doctors filter- a filter that includes cultural bias, religious bias, economic bias, and their own personal values. And theres some very compelling data that sick people really want much m
30、ore information about their condition than theyre currently being told. Liane: Michael, have you ever been tempted to be less than perfectly honest with a patient? Michael: Absolutely. Theres always that temptation, Liane. Telling the truth in medicine is one of the most difficult things to do. The
31、. . . uh . . . there is an issue that came up Unit 8 Step by Step 3000, Book IV 4 recently when another physician suggested that I prescribe a placebo, or sugar pill, that had no biological effects for a patient. A 70-year-old man had just moved to town and he came to see me to get a refill of a pre
32、scription for a sleeping pill that hed been given for a long time. In fact, it turned out hes been taking the pill every night since his wife died several years ago. As I spoke with him, it became clear to me that he recognized that he was addicted to the sleeping medicine. In fact, he said he wante
33、d to stop, but every time he tried to stop taking the medicine, he couldnt sleep and ended up taking a sleeping pill. Now, a doctor at the hospital suggested that I use a placebo. He said that hed had great luck using this kind of placebo for exactly these types of addictions. The problem was that t
34、here was no way that I could use the placebo without deceiving the patient. So the issue here for me was whether doctors are justified in telling this sort of little white lies in order to benefit the patient. Liane: Miriam, as an ethics specialist, what do you say? What does medical ethics tell us
35、is right in this situation? Miriam: Well, I think the conflict for the doctor here is that hes really seeing two duties. One is not to lie to a patient, and the other is, uh, to always do whats beneficial for the patient, not to do harm. So, in this case, the doctor who suggested the placebo may thi
36、nk that its most beneficial to prescribe the placebo, it wont have any side effects, uh, and . . . the little white lie he thinks is not as important. Liane: So , should people be concerned that, uh, when they go to their doctor, that the doctor might be prescribing a placebo? Miriam: Absolutely not
37、. First, the use of placebos in clinical practice is very rare. Theyre mostly used in research where people are told theyre going to be receiving a placebo. And second, there are doctrines and policies around this. Its called informed consent, and what it means is that before a patient can agree to
38、a given treatment or procedure, the doctor is obliged to inform them about the risks and benefits of that treatment, and most doctors are aware of that. Michael: You know, its probably worth mentioning here that experts feel that about 30Vo of the medicines that we currently prescribe really have no
39、 biologic activity. They work through the power of suggestions. Um . . . cough medicines are a great example of this sort of drug. Now, that doesnt mean that cough medicines dont work. What Im trying Unit 8 Step by Step 3000, Book IV 5 to suggest is that they work through an effect on the mind rathe
40、r than on the body, say, on the diaphragm or in the lung tissue or muscles themselves. Anyway, I feel there are still far too many times when doctors really arent being truthful with patients because they feel that they know whats best for the patient. Liane: We talked about placebos, but what about
41、 lying? How often do doctors lie to their patients? Miriam: Liane, I cant give you a statistic on that but I dont think it happens very often. Doctors dont in . . . intentionally mislead their patients. But what does happen is that patients arent given the information they really need to make decisi
42、ons. Doctors dont give them the chance to ask the questions that would get them that information. Liane: Michael, what happened to the man that was hooked on the sleeping pill? Michael: Liane, we talked about it for a long time at the hospital. The bottom line was I, uh, I chose not to use a placebo
43、. The downside of that decision is that the man is still addicted to the medicine although Im slowly weaning him off by using some behavior modification techniques. Liane: “Weekend Edition “medical commentators Dr Michael Wilkes and Dr Miriam Shuchman. Part III A radio debate Tape scripts Host: Good
44、 morning, and welcome to todays broadcast of Seeing Both Sides. Today we have something very interesting for you - a very controversial topic. Is it a moral use of technology to take advantage of aborted fetal tissue for medical experimentation? Our guests today are Dr Jasmine Farnazeh, head of the
45、Organization of Physicians for Responsible Research, and the Reverend William Cooper. Theyre here to discuss the moral and medical implications of this new area of research. Good morning, Doctor and Reverend. (Good morning!) (Good morning!) Dr Farnazeh, lets begin by hearing the arguments in favor.
46、Farnazeh: Well, scientifically speaking, its clear that aborted fetal tissue is quite a gold mine. It is been proven to be extremely successful in grafting new tissue for use with burn victims. Research is being done into other potential uses as well. Unit 8 Step by Step 3000, Book IV 6 Host: Revere
47、nd Cooper, how do you respond to that? What about these benefits? Cooper: Well, of course I see the doctors point, and it is extremely important to do everything possible in terms of research to alleviate human suffering; however, you cant ignore the fact that fetal tissue is a product of abortion,
48、which many consider to be an act of murder. Just as we hope you would not kill another person to benefit yourself, it is immoral to use the life of a fetus in this way. Farnazeh: Yes, Reverend Cooper, I suppose some people could say abortion is an act of murder, but its really important to clearly s
49、eparate issues here. You cant ignore the fact that abortion is legal in this country at this time. Certainly, while we can recognize that as a grave human tragedy, it is a fact that it happens frequently, thousands of times every day. If this is the case, it makes good medical sense to derive any benefit from it that we can. Isnt the tragedy perhaps minimized if this tissue can be used to further human life? And,
