The Ethics of Protocells: Moral and Social Implications of Creating Life in the Laboratory
The Ethics of Protocells: Moral and Social Implications of Creating Life in the Laboratory
Cite
Abstract
Teams of scientists around the world are racing to create protocells—microscopic, self-organizing entities that spontaneously assemble from simple organic and inorganic materials. The creation of fully autonomous protocells—a technology that can, for all intents and purposes, be considered literally alive—is only a matter of time. This book examines the pressing social and ethical issues raised by the creation of life in the laboratory. Protocells might offer great medical and social benefits and vast new economic opportunities, but they also pose potential risks and threaten cultural and moral norms against tampering with nature and “playing God.” This book offers a variety of perspectives on these concerns. After a brief survey of current protocell research (including the much-publicized “top-down” strategy of J. Craig Venter and Hamilton Smith, for which they have received multimillion dollar financing from the U.S. Department of Energy), the chapters treat risk, uncertainty, and precaution; lessons from recent history and related technologies; and ethics in a future society with protocells. The discussions range from new considerations of the precautionary principle and the role of professional ethicists to explorations of what can be learned from society’s experience with other biotechnologies and the open-source software movement.
-
Front Matter
-
1
Introduction to the Ethics of Protocells
-
I Risk, Uncertainty, and Precaution with Protocells
-
2
New Technologies, Public Perceptions, and Ethics
Brian Johnson
-
3
Social and Ethical Implications of Creating Artificial Cells
Mark A. Bedau andMark Triant
-
4
The Acceptability of the Risks of Protocells
Carl Cranor
-
5
The Precautionary Principle and Its Critics
-
6
A New Virtue-Based Understanding of the Precautionary Principle
Per Sandin
-
7
Ethical Dialogue about Science in the Context of a Culture of Precaution
Bill Durodié
-
2
New Technologies, Public Perceptions, and Ethics
-
II Lessons from Recent History and Related Technologies
-
8
The Creation of Life in Cultural Context: From Spontaneous Generation to Synthetic Biology
Joachim Schummer
-
9
Second Life: Some Ethical Issues in Synthetic Biology and the Recapitulation of Evolution
Laurie Zoloth
-
10
Protocell Patents: Property Between Modularity and Emergence
Alain Pottage
-
11
Protocells, Precaution, and Open-Source Biology
Andrew Hessel
-
12
The Ambivalence of Protocells: Challenges for Self-Reflexive Ethics
Brigitte Hantsche-Tangen
-
8
The Creation of Life in Cultural Context: From Spontaneous Generation to Synthetic Biology
-
III Ethics in a Future with Protocells
-
13
Open Evolution and Human Agency: The Pragmatics of Upstream Ethics in the Design of Artificial Life
George Khushf
-
14
Human Practices: Interfacing Three Modes of Collaboration
Paul Rabinow andGaymon Bennett
-
15
This is Not a Hammer: On Ethics and Technology
Mickey Gjerris
-
16
Toward a Critical Evaluation of Protocell Research
Christine Hauskeller
-
17
Methodological Considerations about the Ethical and Social Implications of Protocells
Giovanni Boniolo
-
13
Open Evolution and Human Agency: The Pragmatics of Upstream Ethics in the Design of Artificial Life
-
End Matter
Sign in
Get help with accessPersonal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
Institutional access
- Sign in through your institution
- Sign in with a library card Sign in with username/password Recommend to your librarian
Institutional account management
Sign in as administratorPurchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
January 2023 | 2 |
March 2023 | 2 |
May 2023 | 1 |
July 2023 | 1 |
October 2023 | 2 |
October 2023 | 3 |
November 2023 | 1 |
November 2023 | 2 |
February 2024 | 1 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.