Date:

Friday, 11 December 2020

Time:

9:00AM—10:30AM, JST

Venue:

Zoom Online Meeting^*
[NOTE] Highspeed LAN/WiFi environment advised for stability

Language:

English

Eligibility

Researchers and students in Kyoto University

Title

“Taking Responsibility: Governing Research at Edges of Human Life"

Speaker

Dr J Benjamin Hurlbut
Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University

Abstract

As advances in biotechnology allow increasing control over human biology, they pose complex bioethics challenges, not only for research oversight but also for larger questions of democratic deliberation and governance. These challenges are simultaneously scientific and political: they draw together technically complex domains of biology with fundamental questions of human identity, integrity and dignity. This talk will explore those challenges through two case studies, the debates on human genome editing that have unfolded over the last five years, and emerging debates over laboratory constructs like synthetic embryo-like entities. It will explore how notions of scientific responsibility have shaped deliberative approaches in these arenas, arguing that governance of research that touches upon fundamental dimensions of human life poses unique and urgent challenges for the relationship between science and democracy. It will introduce the Global Observatory on Genome Editing as one emerging effort to respond to these challenges of governance.

Registration

Pre-registered participants only

Registration Form (Google Form)

[IMPORTANT] Participants shall not disclose any confidential information to others since unpublished data may appear in the presentations.

Organizer

Go Okui, Cantas Alev and Tsuomu Sawai (ASHBi, Kyoto University)