Biomedicine and bioethics

Abstract

The historical development of so-called ‘biomedicine’ is closely linked to the rise and evolution of new ethical fields, such as bioethics and medical ethics. In this chapter, we explain what is understood by ‘biomedicine’ today, highlight the major steps in the development of biomedicine, and discuss its association with the evolution of basic ethical theories into applied ethical arguments. Both biomedicine and bioethics have left their traces and were transformed in popular cultural products, including games and film. We will show how bioethics and biomedicine can be used to analyse these products and reveal their potential contributions to actual debates about the problems, fears, and hopes associated with certain biomedical technologies - debates that are set within the triad of biomedicine, bioethical reasoning, and popular culture.