This paper addresses the issue of the moral status of non-human animals, or the question whether sentient animals are morally considerable. The arguments for and against the moral status of animals are discussed, above all the argument from marginal cases. It is argued that sentient animals have moral status based on their having interests in their experiential well-being, but that there are degrees of moral status. Two interest-based approaches are presented and discussed: DeGrazia’s view that sentient animals have interests in (...) continuing to live, and that their interests should be granted moral weight; and McMahan’s TRIA which similarly postulates that animals have interests and that in a given situation we should compare the human and animal interests at stake. Finally, the paper concludes that the anthropocentric approach to animal ethics should be abandoned in favour of the biocentric ethics. (shrink)

This paper deals with the evolutionary origin and the adaptive function of emotion. I discuss the view that emotions have evolved as functional adaptations in both humans and non-human animals in order to cope with adaptive challenges and to promote fitness. I argue that there is evolutionary continuity between humans and animals in emotions and emotional expressions, and discuss behavioural argument for this thesis, specifically, Darwin’s and Ekman’s research on similarities in how humans and animals express their basic emotions. In (...) addition to this argument, I provide neuroscientific evidence that supports the claim that basic emotions are evolutionary old and shared among humans and many other animals. Finally, I conclude that animal emotions can be considered the bases and roots of our emotions that connect us to other sentient beings. (shrink)

This paper addresses the issue of the legal status of non-human animals and the possibility of changing it from the status of things or property to the status of non-things, or better, sentient beings. Key arguments for the change of their status are discussed, including the argument from marginal cases, as well as scientific evidence indicating that many animals are sentient beings. Two ways of initiating such changes seem most promising: legislation, i.e. modification of the civil codes, and litigation, i.e. (...) filing lawsuits on behalf of individual animals. It is argued that legislative changes are necessary for moving animals out of the legal category of things and into the category of sentient beings that can bear rights. On the other hand, litigation could bring about more radical change of the legal status of some animals. (shrink)

This paper discusses the evolutionary origin and adaptive functions of emotions, in line with contemporary evolutionary psychology. Drawing upon Charles Darwin’s study of emotional expressions, it is argued that there is an evolutionary continuity among animals in emotional capacities, and that the differences between humans and animals are differences in degree and not in kind. The focus is on basic or primary emotions (joy, fear, sadness, anger), as it has been consistently shown that they are universal and shared among many (...) different species. Basis for this view is the neuroscientific research on brain mechanisms underlying the emotions, especially subcortical brain regions that are proven to be the evolutionary old loci of emotions, homologous across many species. These neuroscientific data provide convincing empirical evidence for the existence of emotional experiences in animals and the evolutionary continuity among species. (shrink)

This paper addresses the issue of the moral standing of nonhuman animals and their moral and legal rights. First of all, two most prominent views arguing for moral significance of animals are discussed. Peter Singer’s utilitarian view is that animals are sentient beings and therefore deserve equal consideration of their interests. Next, Tom Regan’s standpoint is that many animals have inherent value as experiencing subjects of a life, and consequently an equal right to be treated with respect. This is followed (...) by a discussion about legislation and legal practice in our country and abroad. Finally, it is argued that animals should have at least some basic rights guaranteed by the law. (shrink)

Development of biopharmaceuticals is a challenging issue in bioethics. Unlike conventional, small molecular weight drugs, biopharmaceuticals are proteins derived from DNA technology and hybrid techniques with complex three dimensional structures. Immunogenicity of biopharmaceuticals should always be tested in clinical settings due to low predictive value of preclinical animal models. However, non-human primates and transgenic mice could be used to address certain aspects of immunogenicity. Substantial efforts have been made to reduce NHP use in biopharmaceutical drug development, e.g. study design improvements (...) and changes in regulatory policy. In addition, several expert groups are active in this field. Despite that, there is an increasing trend of use of NHP in preclinical safety testing of biopharmaceuticals, especially regarding monoclonal antibodies. Other potential bioethical issues related biopharmaceutical drug development are their cost/effectiveness ratio, clinical safety assessment, production of biosimilars, and comparison of their efficacy with placebo in countries without intention to market. Identification of the human genome has opened many new bioethical issues. Development of biopharmaceuticals is an important bioethical issue for several reasons. It connects all aspects of contemporary bioethics: bio?medicine, animal welfare and the most recent ad?vances in biotechnology. In particular, biopharmaceutical drug development is a challenging issue regarding treatment of rare diseases. Razvoj biofarmaceutika predstavlja izazov u bioetici. Za razliku od uobicajenih lekova male molekulske mase, biofarmaceutici su proteini kompleksne trodimenzionalne strukture koji se dobijaju tehnologijom rekombinantne DNK i tehnikom hibridoma. Imunogenost biofarmaceutika treba uvek proveriti u klinickim studijama zbog male prediktivne prednosti pretklinickih animalnih modela. Medjutim, primati i transgeni sojevi miseva mogu se upotrebiti da bi se naznacili neki aspekti imunogenosti. Znacajni napori su ucinjeni u cilju smanjenja upotrebe primata u razvoju biofarmaceutika, npr. poboljsanja dizajna istrazivanja i promene u zakonskoj regulativi. Osim toga, u ovoj oblasti su aktivne i pojedine ekspertske grupe. Uprkos tome, postoji rastuci trend upotrebe primata izuzev coveka u pretklinickom ispitivanju bezbednosti biofarmaceutika, posebno kada su u pitanju monoklonska antitela. Druga bioeticka pitanja koja se mogu dovesti u vezu sa razvojem biofarmaceutika su odnos njihove cene i efikasnosti, procena bezbednosti u klinickim uslovima, proizvodnja bioloski slicnih lekova i uporedjivanje njihove efikasnosti sa placebom u zemljama u kojima ne postoji namera o plasmanu. Upoznavanje humanog genoma otvorilo je mnoga bioeticka pitanja. Razvoj biofarmaceutika je vazno bioeticko pitanje iz vise razloga. Ono povezuje sve aspekte savremene bioetike: biomedicinu, dobrobit zivotinja i najnovija dostignuca u biotehnologiji. Posebno, razvoj biofarmaceutika je izazov kada je u pitanju lecenje retkih bolesti. (shrink)

Razvoj biofarmaceutika predstavlja izazov u bioetici. Za razliku od uobicajenih lekova male molekulske mase, biofarmaceutici su proteini kompleksne trodimenzionalne strukture koji se dobijaju tehnologijom rekombinantne DNK i tehnikom hibridoma. Imunogenost biofarmaceutika treba uvek proveriti u klinickim studijama zbog male prediktivne prednosti pretklinickih animalnih modela. Medjutim, primati i transgeni sojevi miseva mogu se upotrebiti da bi se naznacili neki aspekti imunogenosti. Znacajni napori su ucinjeni u cilju smanjenja upotrebe primata u razvoju biofarmaceutika, npr. poboljsanja dizajna istrazivanja i promene u zakonskoj regulativi. (...) Osim toga, u ovoj oblasti su aktivne i pojedine ekspertske grupe. Uprkos tome, postoji rastuci trend upotrebe primata izuzev coveka u pretklinickom ispitivanju bezbednosti biofarmaceutika, posebno kada su u pitanju monoklonska antitela. Druga bioeticka pitanja koja se mogu dovesti u vezu sa razvojem biofarmaceutika su odnos njihove cene i efikasnosti, procena bezbednosti u klinickim uslovima, proizvodnja bioloski slicnih lekova i uporedjivanje njihove efikasnosti sa placebom u zemljama u kojima ne postoji namera o plasmanu. Upoznavanje humanog genoma otvorilo je mnoga bioeticka pitanja. Razvoj biofarmaceutika je vazno bioeticko pitanje iz vise razloga. Ono povezuje sve aspekte savremene bioetike: biomedicinu, dobrobit zivotinja i najnovija dostignuca u biotehnologiji. Posebno, razvoj biofarmaceutika je izazov kada je u pitanju lecenje retkih bolesti. (shrink)