The Ethics of Engineered Living Materials

Engineered living materials (ELMs) are developing in materials science and engineering pointing towards applications in fields such as materials and energy production, biotechnology, and tissue engineering. An ethics-guided research approach in the field of ELMs will promote successful and sustainable development and implementation.<br/>This presentation explains why it is important for nanoscience researchers to become ethically competent. It is not only a moral imperative to conduct socially responsible research – it is an opportunity for researchers to research even better solutions. Ethics-guided research is not only good for science but for society as a whole.<br/>This presentation argues that ethical issues of nanotechnology and synthetic biology are not new and unique. Hence, similar basic ethical principles are at stake in nanotechnology and biotechnology. These basic ethical principles are beneficence, nonmaleficence, respect for autonomy, and justice as defined by American ethicists Tom Beauchamp and James Childress. To inform the community of ELMs, this presentation introduces the ethical theory of principles by Beauchamp and Childress and shows how these principles are useful in the field of ELMs to conduct ethics-guided research.