{"id":53950,"date":"2019-11-12T19:00:07","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T13:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?p=53950"},"modified":"2019-11-12T17:38:15","modified_gmt":"2019-11-12T12:08:15","slug":"7-pm-the-fast-evolving-ethical-conundrums-of-biotechnology-12th-november-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-the-fast-evolving-ethical-conundrums-of-biotechnology-12th-november-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"7 PM | The fast-evolving ethical conundrums of biotechnology | 12th November, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Context:\n<\/strong>List\nof ethical concerns for the biotechnology and bio-engineering community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>More\nin news: <\/strong>The\n2019 Global Community Bio Summit&nbsp;will be held at MIT Media Lab, Cambridge\nin October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Biotechnology:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Biotechnology is a broad discipline in which biological processes, organisms, cells or cellular components are exploited to develop new technologies.<\/li><li>Brewing and baking bread are examples of processes that fall within the concept of biotechnology such as use of yeast (living organism) to produce the desired product.<\/li><li>Such traditional processes usually utilize the living organisms in their natural form (or further developed by breeding), while the more modern form of biotechnology will generally involve a more advanced modification of the biological system or organism.<\/li><li>Today, biotechnology covers many different disciplines for example. Genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, etc.<\/li><li>New technologies and products are developed every year within the areas of eg. <ul><li>medicine (development of new medicines and therapies), <\/li><li>agriculture (development of genetically modified plants, biofuels, biological treatment) <\/li><li>industrial biotechnology (production of chemicals, paper, textiles and food).<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bioengineering:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Bioengineering is the interface between\nengineering and medicine.&nbsp;<\/li><li>Bioengineering is the application of the\nlife sciences, physical sciences, mathematics and engineering principles to\ndefine and solve problems in biology, medicine, health care and other fields.<\/li><li>Bioengineering is a relatively new\ndiscipline that combines many aspects of traditional engineering fields such as\nchemical, electrical and mechanical engineering. Examples of bioengineering\ninclude:<ul><li>artificial\nhips, knees and other joints<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>ultrasound,\nMRI and other medical imaging techniques<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>using\nengineered organisms for chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Global\nCommunity Bio Summit:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The Community Biotechnology initiative at\nthe MIT Media Lab organized the first Global Community Bio Summit in 2017. <\/li><li>Their mission is to provide a space for\nthe global community of independent and community laboratories to convene,\nplan, build fellowship, and continue the evolution of our movement. <\/li><li>The programming topic includes diversity\nand inclusion, sharing and learning, bio security, enabling technologies, bio\nart and design, and more.&nbsp;<\/li><li>The 2019 was the third annual Global\nSummit on Community Biotechnology.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Bio\nSummit\u2019s list of areas where ethical conundrums lie:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Respect:\n<\/strong>Prioritizing\nthe rights of humans, animals and ecosystems and attuning the ways so that bio\ncommunity practices do not harm other living beings<\/li><li><strong>Credit:\n<\/strong>Making\nsure the work serves as a resource for the community and the broader public\nwhile valuing the importance of new technology.<\/li><li><strong>Community:<\/strong> Taking\ncollective decision by identifying and engaging non-bio stakeholders.<\/li><li><strong>Autonomy:<\/strong> Valuing\nboth individual and group self-determination and identifying relationships of\npower that impact autonomy.<\/li><li><strong>Education:<\/strong> Creating\nspace to learn and building the confidence to teach so that the technology can\nempower community to engage with the public in clear, meaningful and responsible\nway.<\/li><li><strong>Open\nscience:<\/strong>\nOpenness of the data and results of various researches can pose danger but it\nis necessary to ensure secured openness of the results for a better\ncollaboration among researchers.<\/li><li><strong>Transparency:<\/strong> Transparency\nis one of the major ethical concerns that are encountered. It is necessary to\nbe transparent about the results, ethical conflicts and the funding mechanism.<\/li><li><strong>Data\nprivacy:<\/strong>\nPrivacy is equally important as do the need of new technology. Ensuring the\nsovereignty of data and treating stakeholders as peers should be one of the\npriority.<\/li><li><strong>Safety:<\/strong> Safety\nof the bio-community is also important. The researchers are important assets\nfor the future development in the technology. It is to be ensured that they are\nprovided with the safe environment for their research.<\/li><li><strong>Justice\nand fairness<\/strong>: Engendering justice and fairness in practice and avoiding\nperpetuating systems of winners and losers. The new technology should be for\nthe greater good of humanity rather than the technological advancement race\nbetween the countries.<\/li><li><strong>Diversity\nand inclusion<\/strong>: Respecting the diversity of the global community and\ninclusion of the under privileged must be a priority.<\/li><li><strong>Accountability:\n<\/strong>The\nbiotechnology community needs to be accountable for the actions that it takes.\nIt is their responsibility to ensure that the unethical practices are not\nfollowed.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is hearting to\nnote that the scientific community is working towards consideration of the\nethical concerns along with the technological advancements. Such steps are\nwhole-heartedly welcomed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source:\n<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/opinion\/columns\/the-fast-evolving-ethical-conundrums-of-biotechnology-11573495246351.html\">https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/opinion\/columns\/the-fast-evolving-ethical-conundrums-of-biotechnology-11573495246351.html<\/a><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Context: List of ethical concerns for the biotechnology and bio-engineering community. More in news: The 2019 Global Community Bio Summit&nbsp;will be held at MIT Media Lab, Cambridge in October. Biotechnology: Biotechnology is a broad discipline in which biological processes, organisms, cells or cellular components are exploited to develop new technologies. Brewing and baking bread are&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/7-pm-the-fast-evolving-ethical-conundrums-of-biotechnology-12th-november-2019\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">7 PM | The fast-evolving ethical conundrums of biotechnology | 12th November, 2019<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":49370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-7-pm","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/7-PM.png?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":1,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1700063986},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}