The Values and Ethics of Biomedical Engineering Practices in The Design of Bionanotechnologies

• In Event: Emergent Technologies in Biomedicine and Healthcare: Boundaries, Tensions, and Possibilities - I

Abstract

The emergence of novel biomedical nanotechnologies present clinicians with the tools and techniques to provide healthcare diagnostics and therapeutics on the nanoscale. The intended purpose of bionanotechnologies is to provide patients with innovative care through personalized treatment applications on the cellular and molecular level. Although the public has expressed concerns about the safe and ethical use of these type of technologies, little is commonly known about the everyday scientific practices of the biomedical engineers (e.g. bioengineers) who are responsible for their development. Do bioengineers think about and act upon these safety and ethical concerns as they design these technologies? What is valued by bioengineers as they define research priorities and make design decisions? What values interventions should STS researchers suggest bioengineers use as they design biomedical technologies? In this paper, the results of an ethnographic study of scientific laboratories focused biomedical nanotechnology development will be discussed. This discussion will draw on STS scholarship regarding epistemic cultures, responsible research and innovation, and anticipatory ethics. The case will also be made for the inclusion of Values in Design (VID) perspectives to aid in the understanding of how social values both shape the design process and are shaped by the use of different bionanotechnologies. Various ethical implications concerning human welfare and inequality are suggested as they relate to bioengineering identity, reflexivity in practice, and pressures to innovate. Ultimately, bioengineers who are aware of how the bionanotechnologies they develop could affect social values will make technologies that are better for humans.

Author

• Beth Strickland Bloch, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign