"'Bioethics is the study of the ethical, social, legal, philosophical, and other related issues arising in health care and in the biological sciences' (IAB 2008; Chadwick 2007, p. ii). Bioethics is interdisciplinary in nature and draws from diverse sources to bring ethical reflection to bear upon a range of issues and questions in medicine and the biomedical sciences."    

New Catholic Encyclopedia. Supplement (2009), 'Bioethics.'. Detroit: Gale in association with the Catholic University of America, 2009, p. 87.

"One may define bioethics generally as follows: the systematic exercise, study, and methodology of responsible agents and actions in the life sciences (e.g., biology) and healing arts (e.g., medicine).  The Oxford English Dictionary defines bioethics as, 'The discipline dealing with ethical questions that arise as a result of advances in medicine and biology.'  A biologist by the name of Van Rensselaer Potter first used the term to refer 'to a new field devoted to human survival and an improved quality of life, not necessarily or particularly medical in character.'  In 1977, the philosopher Samuel Gorovitz defined bioethics as the 'critical examination of the moral dimensions of decision-making in health-related contexts and in contexts involving the biological sciences.'  This definition is still a good  one for it highlights the interdisciplinary and social dimensions of bioethics.  It points us in the right direction as we enter the fascinating, but complex world of bioethics."    

An Introduction to Bioethics. Shannon, Thomas A. and Nicholas J. Kockler. 4th revised edition. New York: Paulist Press, 2009, 8.