Associate Professor Kyoto University (Japan), Japan
Rapid advancements in biomedical research, especially genome research, are providing considerable scientific knowledge and resulting in practical applications. However, insufficient professionals and experts as well as time and budget are available to address the increasing ethical, legal, and social implications of such research. As a result, the gap between biomedical advancements and their social acceptability is increasing. To bridge this gap, more people need to be made aware of these advancements and their ethical concerns even with only the limited resources available. Awareness can be spread through various approaches such as workshops, cinema, poems, novels, and paintings. This presentation shows some examples of original artworks that have been created recently to raise awareness of scientific and ethical implications. These artworks depict topics including genome editing, gene drives, artificially modified cells, and dual uses in infectious disease research. These initiatives are necessary for three main reasons. First, technical language and knowledge can make it difficult for laypersons to proactively consider scientific and ethical implications. Second, the artworks can give people time and space to gather and discuss the abovementioned topics. Third, the artworks can induce opportunities to conceive of or reject relationships between different perspectives and social values through conversations. Considering the likely future advancements in biomedical research, various approaches to encourage public dialogue will be necessary, and the approach considered in this study could be one such solution.
