what are bioethics

Bioethics is an interdisciplinary field of study and professional practice that is concerned with ethical issues related to health, including those emerging from advances in biology, medicine, and technologies. It involves the study of values relating to primary care, other branches of medicine, ethical education in science, animal, and environmental ethics, and public health. Bioethics is commonly understood to refer to the ethical implications and applications of the health-related life sciences. Bioethical questions often involve overlapping concerns from diverse fields of study including life sciences, biotechnology, public health, medicine, public policy, law, philosophy, and theology. Bioethicists conduct research on ethical, social, and legal issues arising in biomedicine and biomedical research, teach courses and give seminars, help draft institutional policies, serve on ethics committees, and provide consultation and advice on ethical issues. Bioethics is taught in courses at the undergraduate and graduate level in different academic disciplines or programs.