The roles of ethics in gene drive research and governance

ABSTRACT

Ethics research queries the norms and values that shape the goals and justification for gene drive projects, and that might lead to issue or opposition to such projects. A framework for organizing ethics research is offered. In addition to basic research ethics and risk assessment, gene drives will give rise to questions about the fiduciary responsibilities of scientists, democratizing technology, and the links between epistemology and social power relations. A final category of ethical issues covers the way in which research on norms and values is organized, funded and integrated into other aspects of a gene drive project.

KEYWORDS:

• Risk assessment
• responsible innovation
• philosophy of science
• research ethics
• social acceptance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Paul B. Thompson holds the W. K. Kellogg Chair in Agricultural, Food and Community Ethics at Michigan State University, where he is also Professor of Philosophy, Community Sustainability and Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Institute of Standards and Technology [grant number 70NANB15H339] and U.S. Department of Agriculture [grant number MICL02324].