Governance of Innovation in the Biosciences
Convened by Carl Kaysen (MIT), an Academy working group explored emerging
issues in the governance of biotechnology. Specialists in molecular biology,
science policy, philosophy, history of science, economics, and international
relations addressed the proposition, advanced by Fellow Bill Joy (Sun
Microsystems) and others, that the existing legal, economic, and social
mechanisms governing the development and application of new science and
technology are dangerously inadequate.
Focusing on biotechnology, the group identified three issues for sustained
investigation by the Academy: 1) the means for limiting the danger of the
deliberate use of biotechnology for malevolent purposes; 2) principles, norms,
and practices for mitigating unintended and potentially dangerous consequences
of the benign uses of biotechnology; and 3) the profound religious, cultural,
and social implications of recent and prospective scientific advances,
particularly in the field of genetics.
This project grew out of a series of meetings held in 2000 and 2001 to reflect
on the social implications of new technologies. During those sessions,
participants discussed the risks and benefits of revolutionary advances not
only in genetics but also in nanotechnology and robotics. Joy, chief scientist
at Sun Microsystems, initially raised concerns about these risks when he
addressed the 1999 Induction Ceremony as a representative of newly elected
members in the mathematical and physical sciences (Class I). He subsequently
discussed these issues in a magazine article, "Why
the Future Doesn't Need Us" (Wired, April 8, 2000, p. 23).
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