Pragmatic Health Ethics Research Unit, Institut de recherches cliniques de Montreal and Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Canada.
Biofabrication. 2019 Jul 10;11(4):043001. doi: 10.1088/1758-5090/ab268c.
Ranging from miniaturized biological robots to organoids, multi-cellular engineered living systems (M-CELS) pose complex ethical and societal challenges. Some of these challenges, such as how to best distribute risks and benefits, are likely to arise in the development of any new technology. Other challenges arise specifically because of the particular characteristics of M-CELS. For example, as an engineered living system becomes increasingly complex, it may provoke societal debate about its moral considerability, perhaps necessitating protection from harm or recognition of positive moral and legal rights, particularly if derived from cells of human origin. The use of emergence-based principles in M-CELS development may also create unique challenges, making the technology difficult to fully control or predict in the laboratory as well as in applied medical or environmental settings. In response to these challenges, we argue that the M-CELS community has an obligation to systematically address the ethical and societal aspects of research and to seek input from and accountability to a broad range of stakeholders and publics. As a newly developing field, M-CELS has a significant opportunity to integrate ethically responsible norms and standards into its research and development practices from the start. With the aim of seizing this opportunity, we identify two general kinds of salient ethical issues arising from M-CELS research, and then present a set of commitments to and strategies for addressing these issues. If adopted, these commitments and strategies would help define M-CELS as not only an innovative field, but also as a model for responsible research and engineering.
从微型化的生物机器人到类器官，多细胞工程化活体系统（M-CELS）带来了复杂的伦理和社会挑战。其中一些挑战，例如如何最好地分配风险和利益，可能会在任何新技术的发展中出现。其他挑战则是由于 M-CELS 的特殊性质而产生的。例如，随着工程化活体系统变得越来越复杂，它可能会引发关于其道德可考量性的社会辩论，也许需要保护其免受伤害或承认其积极的道德和法律权利，特别是如果它是源自人类细胞的。在 M-CELS 开发中使用基于涌现的原则也可能会带来独特的挑战，使得该技术在实验室以及在医学或环境应用中难以完全控制或预测。针对这些挑战，我们认为，M-CELS 社区有责任系统地解决研究的伦理和社会方面的问题，并寻求广泛的利益相关者和公众的意见和问责。作为一个新兴的领域，M-CELS 有机会从一开始就将负责任的伦理规范和标准纳入其研究和开发实践中。为了抓住这个机会，我们确定了 M-CELS 研究中出现的两种一般类型的突出伦理问题，然后提出了一系列承诺和策略来解决这些问题。如果这些承诺和策略得到采纳，它们将有助于将 M-CELS 定义为不仅是一个创新领域，而且是负责任的研究和工程的典范。
