ISSN Imprimir: 2151-805X
ISSN On-line: 2151-8068
Including Bio/Med Technologists in Ethical Discussions Concerning Innovative Products: Are the Available Platforms Appropriate?
RESUMO
In our quest for improved life, health, and living environments, we eagerly await products and technologies that biomedical and biotechnology (bio/med) industrial research and development (R&D) promises to manufacture. Bio/med technology professionals (a.k.a. engineers, industrial R&D developers, industry-based scientists, etc.) are continuously envisioning, designing, and manufacturing those highly anticipated and innovative products. Some of these innovative technologies and products could be conceptually new, thus having the potential to disrupt and eliminate known and established products. As such, and as has been in the past, they may also disturb beliefs and behaviors, question established concepts, and challenge values at the user and public levels. These probable challenges demand an ethical evaluation and ethical preparedness. Based on past experiences, different platforms have been established to facilitate ethical discussions regarding innovative bio/med technologies and products. This review aims to explore the inclusion of bio/med technologists in, and their contribution to, the discussions regarding ethical challenges ensuing from the introduction of emerging biotechnologies (EBTs). The established platforms for such a discussion are analyzed and I suggest that inclusion of bio/med technologists should be fairly limited.