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EMERGING ETHICS
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My pleasant greetings to all distinguished guests, resource speakers, organizers, and participants in this three-day National Capability Program on the Convergence of Emerging Ethics of Science and Technology in the 21st Century. Foremost, I would like to congratulate the organizers of this significant activity led by its respected President, Dr. Godofredo Gallega. I salute the Technological University of the Philippines for successfully bringing together these brilliant and dedicated resource speakers and participants and I am convinced that this gathering will serve as a healthy and enriching opportunity to gain learning experiences on the advancement of ethical values, which are complementary to scientific and technological progress.
It is indeed a great pleasure and honor for me to be invited to deliver the Keynote Address on National Capability Building Program on the Convergence of Emerging Ethics of Science and Technology in the 21st Century. This event is very timely and relevant especially now that we are faced with the challenge of putting safeguards on our ethical values while allowing the progress of scientific innovations.
Perhaps you could still recall the controversial veto of US President George Bush last year on proposed legislation to fund embryonic stem cell research. The President’s stance emanated from the presupposition that “extracting the stem cell destroys the embryo, and thus destroys its potential for life”. For him, “it crosses a moral boundary that our decent society needs to respect”.
Supporters of the embryonic stem cell research, on the other hand, believes that the President’s decision has deferred important research that could alleviate human suffering in areas where they are badly needed such as spinal cord injury, diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, to name a few.
This divergence in opinions might lead us to the notion that science and ethics are two separate and independent entities and that we could never hope to harmonize them together.
In an attempt to explore possible alternatives that scientists and medical researchers might look into, I found out that some have shown initiatives to search for non-destructive techniques to pursue probable benefits from embryonic stem cell research.
The most recent alternative was studied by Dr. Anthony Atala and a team from the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the Harvard Medical School. In their journal “Nature Biotechnology”, published on 7 January 2007, Dr. Anthony Atala and his colleagues discovered that amniotic stem cells, which “may be as flexible as embryonic stem cells”, can be collected without necessarily destroying human life.
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Please note, however, that my intention here is not to discuss extensively about stem cell research but to present to you the distinct possibility of balancing scientific progress and ethical principles, for this is the challenge that I want to pose to everyone who are present here.
May I quote one very interesting idea that I have read in my research: “We must make certain that we don’t force ourselves into a false choice between science and ethics—because actually, we need them both and there is a good reason and growing scientific evidence to believe that we actually can have both. “
Certainly, we have to ensure that scientific and technological developments are working within the prescribed ethical framework of respect for human dignity and human rights for these two are always at stake. We need to be cautious that scientific progress does not circumvent human rights and freedom.
The 21st Century world is viewed to change dramatically with the high surge of four most important driving forces behind it – Globalization, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Revolution, the new Knowledge-Based Economy (KBE) and the Biotechnology Revolution. Indeed, as we move forward to the new millennium, we can expect more advancements in the different sectors to gradually or perhaps plunge in, making our lives highly vulnerable to continuous change.
The revolution in Information and Communications Technology (ICT), for example, has seeped into the basic aspects of our existence. However, we are also aware of the fact that while ICT today has served to rapidly diffuse information and technologies from the different parts of world and has made possible the mobility of goods, information, people and capital, it has also been subjected to widespread misuse and abuse. Mounting cases of identity theft and pornography in all parts of the globe are very alarming for they endanger not only the privacy of every individual but also the dignity of a human being.
Another ethical issue that impacts on industrial development and preservation of ecological health is the wanton use of our natural resources, which results in environmental degradation. It has become an everyday subject desensitizing the issues of pollution, nuclear testing, global warming, and the like.
The challenge, therefore, lies on the preservation of prescribed ethical standards while enjoying the direct benefits of technological advances.
Internationalization of the Code of Ethics for Scientists
As you are aware of, there were various codes of ethics for scientists that have been developed in different countries in the past, and there had been attempts to internationalize them as well. Allow me to cite the most recent ethics code launched in the United Kingdom. Professor Sir David King, chief scientific advisor to the British government, introduced it at the British Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual festival in York.
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The code, initially adopted by scientists working under the British government, is aimed to be introduced internationally by next year. The code basically has seven points:
- Act with skill and care, keep skills up to date.
- Prevent corrupt practice and declare conflicts of interest.
- Respect and acknowledge the work of other scientists.
- Ensure that research is justified and lawful.
- Minimize impacts on people, animals and the environment.
- Discuss issues science raises for society.
- Do not mislead; present evidence honestly.
Although generally agreed upon by scientists in UK, the code was welcomed but with various objections from the part of the public, unfortunately citing the vagueness of the words used to formulate the code. Many have questioned, “How exactly does having a Code of Ethics help?” Amidst the reactions, both positive and negative, from the public, scientists firmly believe that the code will serve countless benefits. As Dr. Evan Harris, Lib Dem Science spokesman rightly puts, and I quote, “The seven points in this code are part of what separates researches from charlatans, medicine from quackery and science from supposition.”
As for me, whether scientists need to internationalize the code of ethics for scientists or not, one thing is really clear—We cannot separate ethics as distinct from science, for they must always complement each other. Leaning solely on ethical standards makes us hostage to what James Caroll say as “primitive thinking” and focusing too much on scientific developments undermines “the moral standards that are intrinsic to all learning”.
As one prominent adage goes—“Science without ethics is blind, and ethics without science is empty”.
Scientists, with their special knowledge and scientific abilities have the responsibility to unselfishly produce knowledge that are beneficial to society and at the same time environmentally sustainable. Placing people’s well-being on the top of the priority list and perform every action with a sense of responsibility, transparency and integrity is a critical ingredient for socio-economic development. Bear in mind, however, that putting primacy on human life at the top of the peaking order is never an option, it is a must!
I hope that these new perspectives/ideas will be useful in setting the tone for your training workshop. I look forward to a fruitful exchange of ideas among the participants as you try to realize your training objectives.
Thank you very much and Mabuhay!
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