Technological progress can be both a blessing and a curse. It brings issues related to biobanks and genetics databases, ethics of risk from new technologies like GMOs and nanotechnology, and human enhancement. While technology progresses, its impacts are not inevitable and institutions must consider democratic values and fair access. Private interests in research and development also raise concerns as the profit motive is a dangerous incentive that has led to issues in other industries like asbestos and tobacco. Overall, technological progress requires constantly rethinking its effects and balancing private and public interests.

1. technological progress:
a curse or a blessing?
andrea boggio
associate professor of legal studies
bryant university
presented at IIT@POLIMI
November 21, 2012

2. <3 issues>

3. breadth vs depth
private interests in R&D

4. <3 issues>
biobanks
technology and risk
human enhancement

5. <3 issues>
the place of ethical reasoning
in technology development

6. < issue #1>
biobanks or
genetics databases

7. œ

8. <biobanks>
biobanks
or
genetics databases
= collections of samples + data

10. New technology
New way of doing science
Driven by weak or speculative
hypotheses
Generates unpredicted findings
Generates “big data”

11. Challenge traditional ways of
doing research
New vision Identity issue:
Broad consent research
Ownership of data infrastructures or
Ownership of samples public health
resources?

12. Challenge traditional ways of
doing research
New vision Identity issue:
Broad consent research
Ownership of data infrastructures or
Ownership of samples public health
resources?

13. <issue #2>
ethics of risk

14. <ethics of risk>
what to do when we do not know
if something is risky?

15. <ethics of risk>
GMOs
nanotechnology
ignorance

16. <ethics of risk>
conventional view
risk = probabilities of outcomes
precautionary principle vs.
risk benefit analysis

17. <ethics of risk>
risk however is not value-free
not all risks are equal
- involuntary
- irreversible harm
- incommensurable values

18. <ethics of risk>
rethinking the conventional view
risk is multilayered
principled approach
democratic values
distribution of benefits/harms

19. <issue #3>
human enhancement

21. <human enhancement>
changing basic parameters of human life
extending lifespan
physical
mood/personality enhancement
cognitive
selecting children

22. <human enhancement>
are we “tampering” nature, redefining
what “being a human” mean, or
“optimizing” evolution?
should be worried about fair access?

23. <human enhancement>
L'homme est la seule créature qui refuse d'être
ce qu'elle est. La question est de savoir si ce
refus ne peut l’amener qu’à la destruction des
autres et de lui-même…
Man is the only creature that refuses to be what
he is. The question is: do we know if this refusal
can only lead to destruction of others and of
himself…
Albert Camus

24. <human enhancement>
L'homme est la seule créature qui refuse d'être
ce qu'elle est. La question est de savoir si ce
refus ne peut l’amener qu’à la destruction des
autres et de lui-même…
Man is the only creature that refuses to be what
he is. The question is: do we know if this refusal
can only lead to the destruction of others and of
himself…
Albert Camus

25. <blessing or curse?>
bioliberation vs. biothreat
technological progress is not inevitable
technological progress is not inconsequential
constantly rethinking our place in this planet
individual choices matter
institutions and processes matter
private interests in R&D

26. <blessing or curse?>
bioliberation vs. biothreat
technological progress is not inevitable
technological progress is not inconsequential
constantly rethinking our place in this planet
individual choices matter
institutions and processes matter
private interests in R&D

27. <blessing or curse?>
bioliberation vs. biothreat
technological progress is not inevitable
technological progress is not inconsequential
constantly rethinking our place in this planet
individual choices matter
institutions and processes matter
private interests in R&D

28. <private investment in R&D>
4 claims

29. <private investment in R&D>
we live in times of intense commodification

30. <private investment in R&D>
commodification is particularly objectionable
when affecting primary goods
“the logic of buying and selling no longer
applies to material goods alone. It
increasingly governs the whole of life”
(Sandel 2012)

31. <private investment in R&D>
history teaches us that
profit motive is a dangerous incentive
research on asbestos, tobacco, drug
industries

33. <private investment in R&D>
bioliberation vs. biothreat
depends largely upon private interests

34. Andrea Boggio
Associate Professor of Legal Studies
Bryant University
boggioa@gmail.com