Efforts against stem cell hype stuck in the logic of overpromising? An essay on hype-conducive ways of doing ethics

Studies on hype have had a strong focus on the role of science, media and markets in overstating potential benefits or risks of emerging science and technologies. Less attention has been paid to the role of ethics in creating or sustaining hype or alarmism. This research article focuses on how bioethical approaches as well as bioethicists' relationship towards science contribute to stem cell and organoid hype. How (if at all) may ways of doing ethics fuel exaggerated expectations and could ethics be done differently? Understanding hype-conducive ways of how ethicists engage with science and technology is of relevance not only for the broader ethical community but also for technology assessment and science and technology studies where an increasing interest in normative dimensions of their object of study has been observed.Studien zum Thema Hype haben sich stark auf die Rolle von Wissenschaft, Medien und Märkten bei der Übertreibung potenzieller Nutzen oder Risiken wissenschaftlicher und technologischer Entwicklungen konzentriert. Weniger Aufmerksamkeit wurde der Rolle der Ethik bei der Entstehung von Hype oder Alarmismus zuteil. Dieser Forschungsartikel befasst sich mit der Frage, wie bioethische Zugangsweisen sowie das Verhältnis von Bioethiker*innen zur Wissenschaft zum Hype um Stammzellen und Organoide beitragen. Wie (wenn überhaupt) können bioethische Ansätze überzogene Erwartungen schüren, und könnte Ethik anders praktiziert werden? Ein besseres Verständnis, wie Formen der ethischen Auseinandersetzung mit Wissenschafts- und Technologieentwicklung zu Hype führen können, ist nicht nur für die Bioethik von Bedeutung, sondern auch für Technikfolgenabschätzung und STS, die ein wachsendes Interesse an normativen Dimensionen ihrer Forschungsobjekte zeigen

Organoide

Zusammenfassung Organoide sind dreidimensionale, aus Stammzellen entwickelte Modellsysteme für unterschiedliche Organe, die großes Potenzial für Forschung und Medizin bergen. Sie werfen wissenschaftliche, aber auch philosophische, ethische und juristische Fragen auf, die bislang in Deutschland wenig diskutiert werden. Der Themenband der interdisziplinären Arbeitsgruppe (IAG) Gentechnologiebericht an der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften bietet eine Übersicht über aktuelle wissenschaftliche Entwicklungen, ihre derzeitigen und potenziellen Anwendungsmöglichkeiten sowie wissenschaftstheoretische, ethische und juristische Reflexionen. Hiermit möchte die IAG einen Anstoß zu einer interdisziplinären und gesamtgesellschaftlichen Debatte liefern. Mit Beiträgen von Cantas Alev, Aileen-Diane Bamford, Sina Bartfeld, Andreia S. Batista-Rocha, Ali H. Brivanlou, Thomas Burgold, Cindrilla Chumduri, Stephan Clemens, Emrecan Dilmen, Tobias Erb, Fred Etoc, Melinda B. Fagan, Heiner Fangerau, Boris Fehse, Nina Frey, Tristan Frum, Anne Grapin-Botton, Navin Gupta, Jürgen Hampel, Ferdinand Hucho, Özge Kayisoglu, Rashmiparvathi Keshara, Yung Hae Kim, Bon-Kyoung Koo, Martin Korte, Yaroslav Koshelev, Kai Kretzschmar, Allison Lewis, Lilian Marx-Stölting, Fruzsina Molnár-Gábor, Ryuji Morizane, Stefan Mundlos, Paola Nicolas, Angela Osterheider, In-Hyun Park, Anja Pichl, Sandra Pilat-Carotta, Jens Reich, Marlen Reinschke, Hannah Schickl, Silke Schicktanz, Nicolas Schlegel, Jason R. Spence, Yoshiaki Tanaka, Jochen Taupitz, Isaree Teriyapirom, Margherita Y. Turco, Jörn Walter, Eva Winkler, Martin Zenke. Abstract Organoids are developed from stem cells and serve as three-dimensional model systems for different organs. They have great potential for research and medicine, but also raise philosophical, ethical and legal questions which have rarely been discussed in Germany so far. This thematic study by the interdisciplinary research group (IAG) Gene Technology Report at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities offers an overview of current scientific developments, their present and potential application, as well as epistemological, ethical and legal reflections. Hereby, the IAG wants to provide impetus for an interdisciplinary and society-wide debate on this general subject. With contributions by Cantas Alev, Aileen-Diane Bamford, Sina Bartfeld, Andreia S. Batista-Rocha, Ali H. Brivanlou, Thomas Burgold, Cindrilla Chumduri, Stephan Clemens, Emrecan Dilmen, Tobias Erb, Fred Etoc, Melinda B. Fagan, Heiner Fangerau, Boris Fehse, Nina Frey, Tristan Frum, Anne Grapin-Botton, Navin Gupta, Jürgen Hampel, Ferdinand Hucho, Özge Kayisoglu, Rashmiparvathi Keshara, Yung Hae Kim, Bon-Kyoung Koo, Martin Korte, Yaroslav Koshelev, Kai Kretzschmar, Allison Lewis, Lilian Marx-Stölting, Fruzsina Molnár-Gábor, Ryuji Morizane, Stefan Mundlos, Paola Nicolas, Angela Osterheider, In-Hyun Park, Anja Pichl, Sandra Pilat-Carotta, Jens Reich, Marlen Reinschke, Hannah Schickl, Silke Schicktanz, Nicolas Schlegel, Jason R. Spence, Yoshiaki Tanaka, Jochen Taupitz, Isaree Teriyapirom, Margherita Y. Turco, Jörn Walter, Eva Winkler, Martin Zenke

Ethical, legal and social aspects of human cerebral organoids and their governance in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States

Human cerebral organoids (HCOs) are model systems that enable researchers to investigate the human brain in ways that had previously been impossible. The emergence of HCOs was accompanied by both expert and layperson discussions concerning the possibility of these novel entities developing sentience or consciousness. Such concerns are reflected in deliberations about how to handle and regulate their use. This perspective article resulted from an international and interdisciplinary research retreat “Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects of Human Cerebral Organoids and their Governance in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States”, which took place in Tübingen, Germany, in August 2022. The retreat focused on whether HCO research requires new ethical and regulatory approaches. It addressed epistemic issues around the detection and theorisation of consciousness, ethical concerns around moral status and research conduct, difficulties for legislation and guidelines managing these entities, and public engagement

The Matrix of Stem Cell Research: An Approach to Rethinking Science in Society

Stem cell research has been a problematic endeavour. For the past twenty years it has attracted moral controversies in both the public and the professional sphere. The research involves not only laboratories, clinics and people, but ethics, industries, jurisprudence, and markets. Today it contributes to the development of new therapies and affects increasingly many social arenas. The matrix approach introduced in this book offers a new understanding of this science in its relation to society. The contributions are multidisciplinary and intersectional, illustrating how agency and influence between science and society go both ways. Conceptually, this volume presents a situated and reflexive approach for philosophy and sociology of the life sciences. The practices that are part of stem cell research are dispersed, and the concepts that tie them together are tenuous; there are persistent problems with the validation of findings, and the ontology of the stem cell is elusive. The array of applications shapes a growing bioeconomy that is dependent on patient donations of tissues and embryos, consumers, and industrial support. In this volume it is argued that this research now denotes not a specific field but a flexible web of intersecting practices, discourses, and agencies. To capture significant parts of this complex reality, this book presents recent findings from researchers, who have studied in-depth aspects of this matrix of stem cell research. This volume presents state-of-the-art examinations from senior and junior scholars in disciplines from humanities and laboratory research to various social sciences, highlighting particular normative and epistemological intersections. The book will appeal to scholars as well as wider audiences interested in developments in life science and society interactions. The novel matrix approach and the accessible case studies make this an excellent resource for science and society courses

The Matrix of Stem Cell Research: An Approach to Rethinking Science in Society

Stem cell research has been a problematic endeavour. For the past twenty years it has attracted moral controversies in both the public and the professional sphere. The research involves not only laboratories, clinics and people, but ethics, industries, jurisprudence, and markets. Today it contributes to the development of new therapies and affects increasingly many social arenas. The matrix approach introduced in this book offers a new understanding of this science in its relation to society. The contributions are multidisciplinary and intersectional, illustrating how agency and influence between science and society go both ways. Conceptually, this volume presents a situated and reflexive approach for philosophy and sociology of the life sciences. The practices that are part of stem cell research are dispersed, and the concepts that tie them together are tenuous; there are persistent problems with the validation of findings, and the ontology of the stem cell is elusive. The array of applications shapes a growing bioeconomy that is dependent on patient donations of tissues and embryos, consumers, and industrial support. In this volume it is argued that this research now denotes not a specific field but a flexible web of intersecting practices, discourses, and agencies. To capture significant parts of this complex reality, this book presents recent findings from researchers, who have studied in-depth aspects of this matrix of stem cell research. This volume presents state-of-the-art examinations from senior and junior scholars in disciplines from humanities and laboratory research to various social sciences, highlighting particular normative and epistemological intersections. The book will appeal to scholars as well as wider audiences interested in developments in life science and society interactions. The novel matrix approach and the accessible case studies make this an excellent resource for science and society courses