In response to the shortage of human organs for transplantation, xenotransplantation is considered as one of the alternatives. In Korea, the xenotransplantation research began at 2002. But xenotransplantation raises a few of bioethical issues: the ethical legitimacy of xenotransplantation research, the ethics of animal experiments, and the problems of the clinical trial. In 2004 we administered a survey to find out the perceptions and attitudes of the researchers participated in xenotransplantation research toward some bioethical issues related to such research. We received 40 responses and analyzed the data. This survey showed that all of the respondents answered that xenotransplantation research is ethically legitimate. But 'very much legitimate'(43.6%) is little lower than 'some legitimate'(56.4%). In related to the ethics of animal experiments, this survey showed some meaningful results: the establishment of Animal Experiment Committee, the need to regular education about animal experiment guideline, the need and justness of transgenic animal and primates recipients etc. In relation to the clinical trial, this survey showed the researchers are very prudent and cautious. They agree to clinical test after 90% safety guaranteed in animal experiments. But they show a favourable response to xenotransplantation if the safety and effectiveness of xenotransplantation is guaranteed.

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The College of Medicine, Seoul National University developed a course named "Society and Physician", the purpose of which stimulated the interest of students toward social affairs and made them recognize the relation between the physician and the society. Medical ethics is a part of it consisted of four modules(Patient/Doctor/Society, Medical Ethics, Disease, Medicine and Culture, Medicine and Social Welfare). The medical ethics module was made of 3 lectures and 1 symposium about the "cloning debate". The special website for it was made to accumulate the reading materials and to stimulate "on-line discussion" among students. The students prepared and run the whole symposium session. According to the afterward survey, the students showed some satisfaction about this course, and confessed some of their thoughts toward "cloning" had changed. We think that medical ethics education using the form of student symposium assisted by "on-line discussion" can be applied to a certain circumstance, especially when the number of students is so large and the education resources are limited.