Ethical principles for the use of human cellular biotechnologies

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Paul Root Wolpe, Emory University; Karen S. Rommelfanger, Emory University; Christie Gunter, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2017-11-01
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2017, Springer Nature America, Inc.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nbt.4007
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Nature Biotechnology
• ISSN: 1087-0156
• Volume: 35
• Issue: 11
• Start Page: 1050
• End Page: 1058
• Keywords: SAMPLES; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; SCIENCE; DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES; Science & Technology; Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology; HEALTH

Abstract

Recent developments in bioengineering promise the possibility of new diagnostic and treatment strategies, novel industrial processes, and innovative approaches to thorny problems in fields such as nutrition, agriculture, and biomanufacturing. As modern genetics has matured and developed technologies of increasing power, debates overrisk assessments and proper applications of the technology, and over who should have d ecision-making power over such issues, have become more prominent. Recently, some scientists have advocated that ethicists step out of the way, whereas others have called for greater ethical scrutiny, or even for moratoria on some lines of research1,2. As a community, however, we must together determine the proper application of these powerful biological tools. This paper, a consensus statement of a group of interdisciplinary delegates drawn from the top biotech-producing countries of the world, offers a set of ethical principles to contribute to the ethical conversation about human cellular biotechnological research moving forward.