8

Biotechnology
Quarter 4 – Module 4:
Moral Concepts and Behavior in
Relation to Application of
Biotechnology

DIVISION OF ANGELES CITY

Biotechnology– Grade 8
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 3 – Module 4:Moral Concepts and behavior in Relation to Application of
Biotechnology

First Edition, 2021

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Published by the Department of Education

Regional Director: May B Eclar PhD, CESE III
Assistant Regional Director: Rhoda T. Razon EdD, CESO V

Development Team of the Module

Writers: Lemuel Licup,LarissaManalili, Marifar Santos

Editors: Sherilyne L. Reyes, Jennifer M. Praza,Jenny Serrano, EdythaM.Hipolito,
Edgardo D. Cortez
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Illustrator: Arnold Arceo
Layout Artist: Maricon H. Rivera, Noel S. Reganit
Management Team: May B. Eclar PhD, CESO V
Rhoda T. Razon EdD, CESO V
Ma. Irelyn P. Tamayo PhD, CESE
Fernandina P. Otchengco PhD, CESE
Librada M. Rubio PhD
Ma. Editha R. Caparas EdD
Emily F. Sarmiento, PhD
Gemima A. Estrabillo, PhD
Rochella C. David
Printed in the Philippines by ________________________

Department of Education –Region III – Schools Division of Angeles City

Office Address: Jesus St. Pulungbulu, Angeles City

Telefax: (045) 322-5722;322-472 888-0582;887-6099
E-mail Address: angeles.city@deped.gov.ph
 8

Biotechnology
Quarter 4 – Module 4:
Moral Concepts and Behavior in
Relation to Application of
Biotechnology
Introductory Message

This Self-Learning Module (SLM) is prepared so that you, our dear learners,
can continue your studies and learn while at home. Activities, questions,
directions, exercises, and discussions are carefully stated for you to understand
each lesson.

Each SLM is composed of different parts. Each part shall guide you step-by-
step as you discover and understand the lesson prepared for you.

Pre-tests are provided to measure your prior knowledge on lessons in each

SLM. This will tell you if you need to proceed on completing this module or if you
need to ask your facilitator or your teacher’s assistance for better understanding of
the lesson. At the end of each module, you need to answer the post-test to self-
check your learning. Answer keys are provided for each activity and test. We trust
that you will be honest in using these.

In addition to the material in the main text, Notes to the Teacher are also
provided to our facilitators and parents for strategies and reminders on how they
can best help you on your home-based learning.

Please use this module with care. Do not put unnecessary marks on any
part of this SLM. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercises and
tests. And read the instructions carefully before performing each task.

If you have any questions in using this SLM or any difficulty in answering
the tasks in this module, do not hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator.

Thank you.
 What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help
you understand the moral concepts and behavior in relation to application of
biotechnology. The scope of this module permits it to be used in many different
learning situations. The language used recognizes the diverse vocabulary level of
students. The lessons are arranged to follow the standard sequence of the course.
But the order in which you read them can be changed to correspond with the
textbook you are now using.

The module is about:

• Lesson 1 – Moral Concepts and Behavior in Relation to Application of
Biotechnology

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. make informed decisions in dealing with matters related to moral concepts
and behavior in relation to applicationns of biotechnology.
 What I Know

Directions: Read each question carefully. Choose the letter of the best answer.

1. It is the ethical implications and applications of the health-related life

sciences.

a. Bioethics c. Moral
b. Biopiracy d. Traditions
2. The moral status of animals, and decisions about whether it is ethical for
humans to use them.
a. Animal Rights c. Human Rights
b. Animal Laws d. Values
3. It is the use of bioresources by multinational companies without proper
authorization or compensation to the people or country concerned.
a. Bioethics c. Human rights
b. Biopiracy d. Values
4. It is is the part of environmental philosophy which considers extending the
traditional boundaries of ethics from solely including humans to including
the nonhuman world.
a. Bioethics c. Environmental ethics
b. Biopiracy d. Environmental issues
5. The following are the human benefits that come from products we find in
nature except:
a. Clothing c. Housing
b. Fuel d. Transportation

Directions: Write Fact if the statement is true and Bluff if false.

1. Bioethics is a subfield of ethics applied to the physical sciences.

2. Social issues refer to people’s moral values or the code of conduct by

which they live.
3. Passing a law to allow doctors to euthanize humans who are terminally ill,
involves ethics.
4. Humans also have interactions with the environment and in fact, depend
upon the health of the environment for life.

5. Ethics means society's concept of right and wrong; Morals are personal
beliefs.
Lesson Moral Concepts and Behavior
in Relation to Application of
1 Biotechnology

What’s In

Activity 1
Directions: Match each application of biotechnology in Industry and Environment
to each corresponding description. Write the letter before each number.

Descriptions Terms
1.It is the process of using biological b. Ex-situ
organisms to break down hazardous
c. Bio stimulation
substances into less toxic or
nontoxic substances. d. Bioremediation
2. It is the addition of nutrients to e. In-situ
stimulate the growth of innate oil-
f. Biosensor
degrading microbes to increase the
rate of remediation.
3. The device that possible to make
quantitative measurements of
pollutants with extreme precision or
to very high sensitivities.
4. You would scoop up the
contaminated soil or pump up the
contaminated water and take it
somewhere else.
5. You allow bioremediation to take
place while leaving the soil or water
in its natural location.
 What’s New

Activity 1
Directions: Read and understand the situation below. Then complete the data on
the table.
Foods can be genetically engineered to contain vaccines, also known as
“edible vaccines”, which could be easier to deliver vaccines to children. Do you
think this is a good idea? Why or why not? Create a pros and cons list.

Pros Cons

What is It

What do you think will happen if the genetic

manipulation of living organisms by humans
goes unregulated? It will not only lead to the
exploitation of the organisms but will also
have harmful impacts on our ecosystem. It is
wrong at the moral and biological level.
Therefore, we need ethical standards to
regulate the human manipulation of
organisms.Recently, certain companies were
granted patents for products and Figure 1: Ethics in science?
technologies that involve genetic material or other resources developed and used by
people of a specific region over many years. This has angered a lot of people. A
recent example is Basmati rice, which was developed by Indian farmers over
hundreds of years. An American company, in 1997, obtained the patent rights for
Basmati rice from the US Patent and Trademark Office. This patent not only allows
this company to sell new variations of Basmati rice and make a profit but also
restricts other people from selling it (Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life
Science, University of Michigan, 2020).

Ethics is a field of study that looks at the moral basis of human behavior
and attempts to determine the best course of action in the face of conflicting
choices. In addition, it is a key component of living within a society in a civilized
way. Bioethics is a subfield of ethics applied to the life sciences. The discipline of
bioethics helps us, as a society, make decisions about how best to use new
scientific knowledge, how to make policy decisions regarding medicines or
treatments, and how we should behave with each other. It explores ethical
questions such as: “How should we decide who receives organ transplants?” or,
“Should a terminally ill patient be allowed to end his/her life with physician-
prescribed medication?”

Bioethics refers to the ethical

implications and applications of the health-
related life sciences. Much of medicine today is
about genetics, whether for disease prevention,
diagnosis, treatment, or reproductive decision-
making. Emerging genetic technologies and
knowledge generate numerous value conflicts.
Consequently, bioethicists ask what is ethically
appropriate if individuals have a mutation for a
serious and now untreatable genetic disorder. Are those individuals ethically
obligated to sacrifice their privacy rights to
Figure 2: Why Ethics and Law are
inform at-risk relatives? What are the ethical Not the Same Thing
obligations for the best interests of future
possible children on the part of parents considering whether and how to have
children, when whole genome sequencing indicates serious potential risks
associated with conceiving those children? Should social policies govern such
decisions? Should those policies protect parental procreative liberty or enhance
social responsibility for the best interests of those future possible children?
University of Michigan (Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Science,
2020).

Biopiracy refers to the use of

bioresources by multinational
companies without proper
authorization or compensation to
the people or country concerned.
People are now more aware of the
injustice and inadequacy in
compensation and sharing of
benefits between the developing and
developed nations. As a result,
several nations now have laws that Figure 3: Seed Patenting and Biopiracy
prevent other nations from
exploiting their bioresources and traditional knowledge. University of Michigan
(Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Science, 2020).
Animal Rights

The moral status of animals, and decisions

about whether it is ethical for humans to use them,
depends on several key internal attributes of 8
animals; the ability to think, the ability to be aware
of family members, the ability to feel pain (at different
levels), and the state of being alive. All will recognize,
inflicting pain is bad so if we do use animals, we
should avoid pain. If we believe that we evolved from
animals we should think that some of the attributes
that we believe humans have, which confer moral
value on humans, may also be present in some
animals. If we take this line of reasoning further, we
conclude that we should use animal cells rather than Figure 5: Valuing Nature
whole animals, or use plants or microorganisms for Versus Active Progress on
experiments, or for testing the safety of food. Animals Environmental
are being used for genetic engineering, for use as Responsibility
models of human disease, for use in the production
of useful substances such as proteins for medical use, and in the more traditional
uses in agriculture. Some of these uses, such as the production of mutations in
strains of animal to study human disease will have human benefit but are more
ethically challenging because some of these strains may feel pain. University of
Nigeria (Ugwuanyi and Akaneme, 2017

Environmental Ethics

Humans also have interactions with

the environment, and in fact depend upon
the health of the environment for life. The
easiest way to argue for the protection of
the environment is to appeal to the human
dependence upon it. There are also human
benefits that come from products we find
in nature, from a variety of species we
obtain food, clothing, housing, fuel, and
medicine. The variety of uses also
Figure 4: Animal Rights Advocacy
supports the preservation of the diversity
of living organisms, biodiversity. As we have learned, the ecosystem is delicately
balanced, and the danger of introducing new organisms into the environment if
that may upset this balance is another key issue raised by genetic engineering.
However, we have been using agricultural selection for 10,000 years, so the
introduction and selection of improved and useful microorganisms, plants, and
animals is nothing new, and we should learn from mistakes of the past. We should
not damage other species unless it is necessary for the survival of human beings
(not the luxury of human life). Nature has life; thus, it has some value University of
Nigeria (Ugwuanyi and Akaneme, 2017).
 What’s More

Activity 1
Directions: Using the graphic organizer, unlock the concept of Biopiracy. Define the
term using your own words.

BIOPIRACY

Guide Questions
1. Which genetically modified products you've learned are acceptable to you for
any reason?
2. Which, if any, of genetically modified products could present serious risks or
hazards to the environment?

Activity 2
Directions: In this word splash activity, the biggest word is BIOETHICS. This will be
the main topic. Using the twowords below, write at least three (3) sentences that
describe how each of these words relates to BIOETHICS.
1. Human Rights
2. Decision Making

Guide Questions

1. Do you have any concerns about using genetically modified products? Explain
your answer.
2. Should GM products sold in the market be labeled? Explain your answer.

Activity 3
Direction: Fill in the boxes with what is asked in relation to the words in the
leftmost column.
Word Draw a Write a brief
representation/ symbol description.
1. Environmental Risk

2. Intellectual Property
 Guide Questions
1. Which, if any, of genetically modified products could present serious risks or
hazards to the country?
2. Which, if any, of genetically modified products could present serious risks or
hazards to humans?

GUIDE QUESTION RUBRICS

1 point 2 points 3 points 4 points 5 points
Answer is Answer is Answer is Answer is Answer is
completely correct but there correct and correct and correct and the
incorrect, and is no support, there is support needs support is fully
no support is OR the answer some continuity. developed.
provided. is incorrect but support.
there is some
correct support.
*Note for the students, this rubric will be use to assess your answers.

What I Have Learned

Direction: Fill in the blanks to complete the statements.

The ethical implications and applications of the health-related life sciences is

called 1. ___________. The use of bioresources by multinational companies without
proper authorization or compensation to the people or country concerned is called
2. ___________. The discipline of bioethics helps us, as a society, to 3.
_______________________, 4. _______________________, 5. _______________________

There are also human benefits that come from products we find in nature; from a
variety of species, we obtain 6. _______________________ ,7. _______________________,
8. _______________________,9. _______________________,10. _______________________.
 What I Can Do

Activity 1
Direction: Make a poster using a bond paper showing your perspective with the
theme “Biotechnology versus Bioethics (Impact to humans and environment)”.
POSTER MAKING RUBRICS
CATEGORY 4 3 2

Required The poster includes All required All but one (1) of the
Elements all required elements elements are required elements
as well as additional included in the are included in the
information. poster. poster.

Labels All items of Almost all items Many items of

importance on the of importance on importance on the
poster are clearly the poster are poster are clearly
labeled. clearly labeled. labeled.

Graphics- All graphics are All graphics are All graphics relate to
Relevance related to the topic related to the the topic
and make it easier to topic and most
understand. make it easier to
understand.

Attractiveness The poster is The poster is The poster is

exceptionally attractive, in acceptably attractive
attractive, in terms of terms of design, though it may be a
design, layout, and layout, and bit messy.
neatness. neatness.

Grammar There are no There 1-2 There 3-4

grammatical/mechani grammatical/mec grammatical/mecha
cal mistakes in the hanical mistakes nical mistakes in the
poster. in the poster. poster.
 Assessment

Directions: Read each statement carefully. Write True if the statement is

correct and False if incorrect.
1. Humans also have interactions on the environment, and in fact depend upon the
health of the environment for life.
2. Animals are being used for genetic engineering, for use in the production of
useful substances such as proteins for medical purposes.
3. Bioethics is a subfield of ethics applied to the physical sciences.
4. Ethics is a field of study that looks at the moral basis of human behavior and
attempts to determine the best course of action in the face of conflicting choices.
5. Biopiracy is about the use of bioresources with proper authorization or
compensation to the people concerned.
6. Ethics means society's concept of right and wrong; Morals are personal beliefs.
7. There is no “right” or “wrong” answer on ethical decision making.
8. Passing a law to allow doctors to euthanize humans who are terminally ill,
involves ethics.
9. Ethics is the main concern of biotechnology in the human genome project.
10. Social issues refer to people’s moral values or the code of conduct by which
they live.

Additional Activities

Direction: Answer the questions below.

1. How does Biotechnology help humans in their everyday living? Defend your
answer.
2. What is the most controversial topic of bioethics? Why do you think it is the
most controversial?
3. How should I treat others? What are my obligations or responsibilities toward
others?
Answer Key
References

McDaniel, Liz. n.d. “What Is Bioethics?” What Is Bioethics?

Accessed February 2, 2021.Retrieved from: https://bioethics.msu.edu/what-
is-bioethics

Ugwuanyi Jerry andAkaneme. 2017. “Food Security and Biotechnology in Africa”

Accessed February 2, 2021. Retrieved from:
https://www.rug.nl/research/irees/research/edulink-fsba/fsba-course-
modules/fsba-module-5-unit-3-notes-english.pdf

Figure 1, Accessed February 2, 2021. “Ethics in Science?”

Image Retrieved from: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-
technology/ethics-science/content-section-0?active-tab=description-tab

Figure 2, Accessed February 2, 2021.“Why Ethics and Law are Not the Same Thing”
Image Retrieved from:
https://www.intheblack.com/articles/2015/04/01/why-ethics-and-law-
are-not-the-same-thing

Figure 3, Accessed February 2, 2021.“ Seed Patenting and Biopiracy”

Image Retrieved from:
http://www.truevaluemetrics.org/DBadmin/DBtxt001.php?vv1=txt00002
120

Figure 4, Accessed February 2, 2021.“ Animal Rights Advocacy”

Image Retrieved from: https://www.pinterest.ph/postermywall/animal-
rights-poster-templates/

Figure 5, Accessed February 2, 2021.“ Valuing Nature Versus Active Progress on

Environmental Responsibility”
Image Retrieved from: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/nature-
environment/the-environment/nature-matters-caring-and-
accountability/content-section-1.3

For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:

Department of Education – Region III – Schools Division of Angeles City

Jesus St. Pulungbulu, Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines 2009

Telefax: (045) 322-5722;322-472; 888-0582; 887-6099

Email Address: angeles.city@deped.gov.ph

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