Building Decision Points Into Research’s Slipperiest Slopes
By John H. Evans, Craig Callender, Neal K. Devaraj, Farren J. Isaacs, Gregory E. Kaebnick in Issues in Science and Technology, Vol. XLI, No. 4 (Summer 2025)
The controversy around a ban on “mirror life” should lead to a more nuanced public conversation about how to manage the benefits and risks of precursor biotechnologies.
About five years ago, the five of us formed a discussion group to investigate the ethics of working with the building blocks of mirror life — biomolecules that are essentially mirror images of their natural counterparts. We knew that less-novel research within the broader field of synthetic biology has been the subject of extensive social and ethical debates, so we wanted to be proactive about a technology we consider even more novel.
Read the full article at Issues in Science and Technology >>
Archive
- UC San Diego Philosophy Department Offers Another ‘Big Idea’
- Let’s become a major voice in ethical science (San Diego Magazine)
- UC San Diego Launches Institute to Address Ethics of Today’s Innovation
- In creating so-called mini-brains, how close to a real human brain is too close?
- Should We Bring Back the Woolly Mammoth? Institute for Practical Ethics helps identify and address the moral and ethical questions of groundbreaking, scientific innovation
- Changing Strategies to Save Nature: Institute for Practical Ethics speaker series brings environmental writer Emma Marris to campus during Earth Month celebrations
- A Human-Centered Approach to Artificial Intelligence: Institute for Practical Ethics keynote advocates for cross-disciplinary development of groundbreaking technology
- "Ethical Boundaries of Research with Human Embryos" with Institute for Practical Ethics co-director John Evans
- Philosophy Professor and Institute for Practical Ethics Co-Director Wins 2018 Lakatos Award
- Understanding the Ethics of Genetic Engineering: UC San Diego’s Institute for Practical Ethics hosts inaugural conference on the impact of gene drive technology
- "San Diegans Shouldn’t Be Lab Rats for Innovation" by Data Analytic Governance and Accountability working group member Lilly Irani
- UC San Diego Researchers Receive $2.6M NSF Grant to Help Train Autistic Adults for Tech Employment
- Charting Shots: The history of vaccines, including hesitancy, is pointedly and painfully familiar
- Graduate Students Recognized as Equity and Diversity Champions
- History and Philosophy of Science Essay Prize Winner Announced by IUHPST
- UC San Diego Sociologist Named Hastings Center Fellow
- Medieval theology has an old take on a new problem − AI responsibility