Les Ateliers de l’Ethique (Aug 2007)
L’éthique et l'acceptation sociale des innovations technologiques
Abstract
In a sense, technology is a way for science to express its practical side, a means of translating discoveries and knowledge into real world applications – but this process can bring with it a variety of ethical challenges. For example, the field of biotechnology had been promised to deliver great things to society, including revolutionary medical treatments and genetically enhanced foods, all of which would be safe, affordable and thus widely available. But few products have yet made it to the consumer marketplace. In one of the most promising areas of application, that is agricultural biotechnology, few technologies have yet fully emerged from laboratories and those products that are in use have engendered significant controversy. Specifically, this paper focuses on a case study of transgenic Plant-Made vaccines, which over the past 15 years have barely made it past the proof of concept stage and thus stagnated where they should have been accomplishing the ‘golden promise’ of providing low cost and effective inoculation for the poor populations of developing countries. The question this paper examines is why, beyond the process of discovery and conceptualization, such technologies are having trouble maturing and being usefully translated into civil society. Moreover, what particular key factors are in need of reconsideration if these technologies are to be effectively implemented and accepted by consumers, and thus have a positive impact on global health and equitable access to needed medicines?
