6 Ethics for Embryologists 149technologies along with the high public prominence given to bioethics in
its role of critical commentator on the morals of the application of bio-
medical knowledge and technique within New Zealand society (Fitzgerald
et al. 2015 ). This public prominence can be seen in the framing of opin-
ions and guidelines in the literature produced by ACART, in the inclusion
of ethics as a module or course within all New Zealand health profes-
sional training, and in the frequent use by broadcasters and other media
commentators of bioethical experts on medical issues of public debate.
However, there is an additional factor which relates to the object of care for
reproductive scientists assisting with HART. Care is directed to the users
of the services, the gametes which the scientists manipulate during their
technical procedures, the system and the scientist’s role within that system
to provide perfect technical care (Fitzgerald et al. 2013a, b). Unlike other
clinical labourers who focus solely on the patients in their care, highly clin-
ically involved scientists working in New Zealand IVF laboratories focus
on maintaining perfection within the process supporting the clinical events
of IVF as well. This is rather more like the roles of New Zealand hospital
managers, computer experts and administrators (Fitzgerald 2004 ) whose
concerns are for the system’s health as much as for the client. Scientists
therefore often focus on the science in ethical debates as no one is more
qualified to comment.
The scientists with whom we spoke were extremely attentive to the
smooth running of their laboratory systems and modulated the emo-
tional tone as well as the physical environment of the laboratory. By
emotional tone, we refer to the edgy ‘something’ that could pervade
the laboratory at times when ‘fert[ilization] rates’ had dropped below
their characteristically high levels for no observable reason. Scientists
were very aware that excellence in technique was assisted by a calm and
positive demeanour, and everyone contributed to moderating the emo-
tional tone upwards when required. This accompanied deftly interwo-
ven contributions to ongoing clinical procedures that ensured a seamless
and extremely high-quality scientific process in which glitches, variable
quality, time delays and inconsistencies were as removed as could be
humanly possible. Such attention to the process allowed several scien-
tists to distance themselves from the internal quandaries in which their
specific expertise could place them. As one worker noted: