Delaware EPSCoR Ethics



	Ethics for Researchers Workshops and Conferences
	Ninety-seven percent of adults in the U.S. would agree with the statement, “We have to protect the environment for our children, and for our grandchildren, even if it means reducing our standard of living today,” according to survey results reported in Environmental Values and American Culture (Kempton, et al., MIT Press, 1995).

Extra! Extra! Read All About It! A Newspaper

The ethical challenges posed by technological innovation frequently make headlines. But while the headlines appear in black and white, the issues involved are rarely so simple. Many new technologies simultaneously hold the potential for benefit and great harm. Some involve toxic byproducts. Others may lead to overuse of limited resources or disputes over access to those resources. Still others may result in unforeseen consequences for our environment, or even intentional misuse as weapons.

The pace of innovation often outstrips the pace of ethical debate or the pace of our policymaking institutions whose job is to protect the public interest and ensure that technology is fairly employed for the benefit of all. This dilemma has been no more apparent than in the biological sciences, where our growing ability to manipulate the genetic building blocks of life has put to the test some of our most fundamental beliefs and values.

Microbial Research at the University of Delaware

Delaware EPSCoR aims to raise awareness of how our decisions and actions can impact the natural environment and our quality of life, and to promote discussion of ethical alternatives.

Topics

Ethics for Researchers

Scientific researchers are bound by sometimes conflicting moral obligations. In this essay, Delaware State University professor Stephen Taylor outlines the hierarchy of ethical considerations most scientists attempt to follow rigorously.

Workshops and Conferences

Public events that draw on scientific, ethical, and policymaking expertise can help clarify the issues and resolve the dilemmas we face due to advances in the life sciences.

One of Delaware EPSCoR’s goals is to encourage scientists and citizens around the state to engage in open discussion of the ethical and policy implications of the sponsored research and the broader field of biotechnology. How do we reap the potential rewards of biotechnology while controlling the risks of negative outcomes?

An educational partnership by:

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the State of Delaware.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number EPS-0447610.