Hunckler Michael D, Levine Aaron D
Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2022 Sep 20;10:949280. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.949280. eCollection 2022.
Biomaterials--from implanted iron teeth in the second century to intraocular lenses, artificial joints, and stents today--have long been used clinically. Today, biomaterials researchers and biomedical engineers are pushing beyond these inert synthetic alternatives and incorporating complex multifunctional materials to control biological interactions and direct physiological processes. These advances are leading to novel strategies for targeted drug delivery, drug screening, diagnostics and imaging, gene therapy, tissue regeneration, and cell transplantation. While the field has survived ethical transgressions in the past, the rapidly expanding scope of biomaterials science, combined with the accelerating clinical translation of this diverse field calls for urgent attention to the complex and challenging ethical dilemmas these advances pose. This perspective responds to this call, examining the intersection of research ethics -- the sets of rules, principles and norms guiding responsible scientific inquiry -- and ongoing advances in biomaterials. While acknowledging the inherent tensions between certain ethical norms and the pressures of the modern scientific and engineering enterprise, we argue that the biomaterials community needs to proactively address ethical issues in the field by, for example, updating or adding specificity to codes of ethics, modifying training programs to highlight the importance of ethical research practices, and partnering with funding agencies and journals to adopt policies prioritizing the ethical conduct of biomaterials research. Together these actions can strengthen and support biomaterials as its advances are increasingly commercialized and impacting the health care system.
生物材料——从公元2世纪植入的铁牙到如今的人工晶状体、人工关节和支架——长期以来一直在临床中使用。如今，生物材料研究人员和生物医学工程师正在突破这些惰性合成材料的局限，转而采用复杂的多功能材料来控制生物相互作用并引导生理过程。这些进展正催生出用于靶向给药、药物筛选、诊断与成像、基因治疗、组织再生及细胞移植的新策略。尽管该领域在过去曾经历过道德违规行为，但生物材料科学迅速扩展的范围，再加上这一多元化领域临床转化速度的加快，使得人们迫切需要关注这些进展所带来的复杂且具有挑战性的伦理困境。本文观点回应了这一需求，探讨了研究伦理——指导负责任科学探究的一系列规则、原则和规范——与生物材料领域当前进展的交叉点。在承认某些伦理规范与现代科学和工程事业压力之间存在内在矛盾的同时，我们认为生物材料界需要积极应对该领域的伦理问题，例如，更新伦理准则或增加其具体性，修改培训计划以突出伦理研究实践的重要性，以及与资助机构和期刊合作，采用优先考虑生物材料研究伦理行为的政策。随着生物材料的进展日益商业化并对医疗保健系统产生影响，这些行动共同作用能够加强并支持生物材料领域的发展。
