Emerging biotechnologies: full report - Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Emerging biotechnologies: full report - Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Emerging biotechnologies: full report - Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
E m e r g i n g b i o t e c h n o l o g i e s<br />
perceived needs of life sciences researchers but at other times they are developed in other<br />
c<strong>on</strong>texts (usually ICT). Having been developed, their commercial availability and improvements<br />
to their ease of use allows new techniques to spread rapidly to different laboratories and<br />
research settings. Examples of this interpenetrati<strong>on</strong> and diffusi<strong>on</strong> of techniques within different<br />
research areas include cheaper DNA sequencing and synthesis, large scale databases, robotics<br />
and microfluidics to increase the rate at which experiments can be d<strong>on</strong>e, and computing power<br />
to analyse results.<br />
6.21 Because of these multiple and multi-directi<strong>on</strong>al influences, from some perspectives it can seem<br />
as if the directi<strong>on</strong> of research in emerging <str<strong>on</strong>g>biotechnologies</str<strong>on</strong>g> is more an emergent property of the<br />
research system than a matter for higher level political (and democratic) c<strong>on</strong>trol. This gives an<br />
ir<strong>on</strong>ic twist to our focus <strong>on</strong> ‘emerging’ <str<strong>on</strong>g>biotechnologies</str<strong>on</strong>g> in this Report. While this might be the<br />
case it does not mean, of course, that the emerging trajectories do not have socially and<br />
ethically important dimensi<strong>on</strong>s or that they are not c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>ed by a variety of normative forces,<br />
including prevailing social and ethical dispositi<strong>on</strong>s.<br />
Influences <strong>on</strong> researchers<br />
6.22 The most obvious external influence <strong>on</strong> the directi<strong>on</strong> of research in emerging <str<strong>on</strong>g>biotechnologies</str<strong>on</strong>g> is<br />
the pressure from funders of that research. When funding derives from commerce and industry,<br />
researchers will expect there to be close links between the commercial imperatives of the<br />
funding organisati<strong>on</strong> and the directi<strong>on</strong> of the research they are undertaking. For research<br />
carried out by start-ups and spin-outs, additi<strong>on</strong>al pressure is applied to researchers in situati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
where venture capitalists are keen to see a healthy return <strong>on</strong> their investments in relatively short<br />
timescales. Funding from charitable and philanthropic sources may also be expected to be<br />
closely targeted at meeting the goals of d<strong>on</strong>ors though in this case, support for ‘basic science’<br />
may coexist as an explicit aim al<strong>on</strong>g with more focused efforts to alleviate particular c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
such as famine and disease, often through specific strategies.<br />
Public funding<br />
6.23 There is a balance to be struck by government funding agencies 404 when allocating resources<br />
between managed projects in support of strategic goals of the funding agency and projects that<br />
follow the priorities of individual scientists. 405 Decisi<strong>on</strong>s about how this balance should be struck<br />
can be c<strong>on</strong>tentious. In understanding the way research councils strike this balance and set their<br />
priorities, the relative importance of the following factors needs to be c<strong>on</strong>sidered:<br />
■ the priorities of individual scientists as they emerge and are aggregated as the sum of many<br />
individual grant proposals;<br />
■ the views of elite scientists as they directly inform strategic discussi<strong>on</strong>s;<br />
■ the views of industrialists and financiers as they inform strategic discussi<strong>on</strong>s;<br />
■ direct steer from Government; and<br />
■ the influence of wider society.<br />
6.24 The way in which research council priorities are set and operati<strong>on</strong>alised is clearly important to<br />
researchers working <strong>on</strong> emerging <str<strong>on</strong>g>biotechnologies</str<strong>on</strong>g>. A key step for the research councils is the<br />
negotiati<strong>on</strong> of their budget in the run up to the Government’s four-yearly comprehensive<br />
spending review. This process begins with each research council preparing a bid document,<br />
outlining how they would use funding at various indicative levels. These documents draw <strong>on</strong><br />
404 In the UK, the research councils.<br />
405 ‘Investigator-driven research’ or ’resp<strong>on</strong>sive mode’.<br />
100