The Safe-by-Design approach in synthetic biology holds the promise of designing the building bloc... more The Safe-by-Design approach in synthetic biology holds the promise of designing the building blocks of life in an organism guided by the value of safety. This paves a new way for using biotechnologies safely. However, the Safe-by-Design approach moves the bulk of the responsibility for safety to the actors in the research and development phase. Also, it assumes that safety can be defined and understood by all stakeholders in the same way. These assumptions are problematic and might actually undermine safety. This research explores these assumptions through the use of a Group Decision Room. In this set up, anonymous and non-anonymous deliberation methods are used for different stakeholders to exchange views. During the session, a potential synthetic biology application is used as a case for investigation: the Food Warden, a biosensor contained in meat packaging for indicating the freshness of meat. Participants discuss what potential issues might arise, how responsibilities should be distributed in a forward-looking way, who is to blame if something would go wrong. They are also asked what safety and responsibility mean at different phases, and for different stakeholders. The results of the session are not generalizable, but provide valuable insights. Issues of safety cannot all be taken care of in the R&D phase. Also, when things go wrong, there are proximal and distal causes to consider. In addition, capacities of actors play an important role in defining their responsibilities. Last but not least, this research provides a new perspective on the role of instruction manuals in achieving safety.
Medical sciences have long since established an ethics code for experiments, to minimize the risk... more Medical sciences have long since established an ethics code for experiments, to minimize the risk of harm to subjects. Natural language processing (NLP) used to involve mostly anonymous corpora, with the goal of enriching linguistic analysis, and was therefore unlikely to raise ethical concerns. As NLP becomes increasingly widespread and uses more data from social media, however, the situation has changed: the outcome of NLP experiments and applications can now have a direct effect on individual users' lives. Until now, the discourse on this topic in the field has not followed the technological development , while public discourse was often focused on exaggerated dangers. This position paper tries to take back the initiative and start a discussion. We identify a number of social implications of NLP and discuss their ethical significance, as well as ways to address them.
In recent years, informed consent has been suggested as a way to deal with risks posed by enginee... more In recent years, informed consent has been suggested as a way to deal with risks posed by engineered nanomaterials. We argue that while we can learn from experiences with informed consent in treatment and research contexts, we should be aware that informed consent traditionally pertains to certain features of the relationships between doctors and patients and researchers and research participants, rather than those between producers and consumers and employers and employees, which are more prominent in the case of engineered nanomaterials. To better understand these differences, we identify three major relational factors that influence whether valid informed consent is obtainable, namely dependency, personal proximity, and existence of shared interests. We show that each type of relationship offers different opportunities for reflection and therefore poses distinct challenges for obtaining valid informed consent. Our analysis offers a systematic understanding of the possibilities for attaining informed consent in the context of nanomaterial risks and makes clear that measures or regulations to improve the obtainment of informed consent should be attuned to the specific inter-personal relations to which it is supposed to apply.
Steeds meer producten bevatten microscopisch kleine nanodeeltjes. Over de hieraan verbonden risic... more Steeds meer producten bevatten microscopisch kleine nanodeeltjes. Over de hieraan verbonden risico’s voor mens en milieu bestaat grote onzekerheid, terwijl hetzelfde geldt voor de mogelijke voordelen van toepassingen met nanodeeltjes. Bovendien is het zeer moeilijk om de risico’s te voorspellen voordat nanodeeltjes bevattende producten op de markt komen. Toepassing van de deeltjes verbieden vanwege de vermeende risico’s lijkt een te extreme reactie. Alles op z’n beloop laten kan echter ook niet. Daarom pleiten de auteurs voor een middenweg door de introductie van nanodeeltjes in de maatschappij op te vatten als een experiment.
Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) provides a framework for judging the ethical qualities ... more Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) provides a framework for judging the ethical qualities of innovation processes, however guidance for researchers on how to implement such practices is limited. Exploring RRI in the context of nanotechnology, this paper examines how the dispersed and interdisciplinary nature of the nanotechnology field somewhat hampers the abilities of individual researchers to control the innovation process. The ad-hoc nature of the field of nanotechnology, with its fluid boundaries and elusive membership, has thus far failed to establish a strong collective agent, such as a professional organization, through which researchers could collectively steer technological development in light of social and environmental needs. In this case, individual researchers cannot innovate responsibly purely by themselves, but there is also no structural framework to ensure that responsible development of nanotechnologies takes place. We argue that, in such a case, individual researchers have a duty to collectivize. In short, researchers in situations where it is challenging for individual agents to achieve the goals of RRI are compelled to develop organizations to facilitate RRI. In this paper we establish and discuss the criteria under which individual researchers have this duty to collectivize.
Impact! Is an initiative of Zoë Robaey and Shannon Spruit, two PhD candidates at the philosophy s... more Impact! Is an initiative of Zoë Robaey and Shannon Spruit, two PhD candidates at the philosophy section of TU Delft. Their work revolves around ethical aspects of the development and introduction of new technologies in society. The idea of Impact! developed through the regular ethics curriculum for engineering students at the TU Delft. Writing is the main medium of philosophy and the field relies on the quality of argumentation. However, this is not always the most accessible tool to communicate for students from technical backgrounds. This is why Robaey and Spruit explored the idea to develop other forms of expression for students to express their ethical views. 13 TU Delft students were brought to exchange with artists and philosophers and coached by Visual Communication coach Annick Spoelstra to express their ethical questions through visual media with the goal of engaging the public in their ethical concerns. This is a reference book in which the complete project is presented: starting from the set up of Impact! to the exhibition of the final works.
Nutrigenomics diverged from mainstream nutrition science, ideologically, instrumentally and cultu... more Nutrigenomics diverged from mainstream nutrition science, ideologically, instrumentally and culturally, due to the establishment of a protective niche. That protection is fading. This article chronicles a case in which convergence between nutrigenomics and nutrition science is pursued. Here we report the opportunities and hurdles that researchers within two large Dutch research consortia encountered when trying to engineer collaboration. The most salient hurdles are the complexity of and unfamiliarity with nutrigenomics, unclear and unshared notions of relevance; difficulties in organising data exchange; and the existence of two research cultures. Overcoming these technical and social hurdles will require the development of a shared ‘future’ for the relationship between nutrigenomics and nutrition science.
Workers who develop and use nanoparticles are on the front line of exposure to the purported risk... more Workers who develop and use nanoparticles are on the front line of exposure to the purported risks of nanoparticles. Employers have a legal duty to protect their employees against any work-related harm. However, it is difficult to perform the required risk assessment and management when dealing with uncertainty. Risk ethicists have therefore argued for using the precautionary principle to guide such decisions on uncertain risks. In this paper, I argue that if we want to make use of innovative products, such as nanomaterials, but lack the knowledge and shared standards for choosing between protective measures, the precautionary principle is underdetermined. For the use of nanoparticles in working environments, there are several guidelines that suggest different precautionary strategies for dealing with their purported risks, but choosing between these guidelines proves difficult in the absence of a clear, scientific, decision principle. I therefore explore the ethics of care to develop a complementary decision criterion for the precautionary principle. From this perspective, the caring qualities of working relationships are key in comparing precautions with each other. I propose three conditions for assessing risk management strategies based on (1) the existence of a mutual concern for employee health and safety, (2) the connectedness and continuity of the relationships between employer and employee, and (3) the responsiveness of employers to employee needs. Using these criteria will support choosing between precautions, by shifting attention from the acceptability of imposing a risk to creating a social context in which the imposition of the residual risks can be considered acceptable.
Chinese herbal medicines, often referred as Chinese materia medica (CMM), are comprised of a comp... more Chinese herbal medicines, often referred as Chinese materia medica (CMM), are comprised of a complex multicomponent nature. The activities are aimed at the system level via interactions with a multitude of targets in the human body. This review aims at the toxicity aspects of CMM and its preparations at the different steps of production; harvesting, processing and the final formulation. The historic perspective and today's issues of the safety of CMM are introduced briefly, followed by the descriptions of the toxic CMM in the current Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2005). Subsequently, several aspects of safety are illustrated using a typical example of a toxic CMM, Aconitum roots, and some recent findings of our own research are included to illustrate that proper processing and multi-herbs formulation can reduce the level of toxic components. This also explains that in CMM, some herbs, such as Aconitum, Ephedra species are never used as single herb for intervention and that aconite is only used when it is processed and in combination with specific matched other herbs. The formulation principle of multi-herbs intervention strategy is a systems approach for the treatment and prevention of disease. In this light, the role of systems toxicology in the safety and quality of Chinese herbal medicine is proposed as a promising method. Moreover the principles of practiced-based and evidence-based research are discussed from a symbiotic perspective.
The Safe-by-Design approach in synthetic biology holds the promise of designing the building bloc... more The Safe-by-Design approach in synthetic biology holds the promise of designing the building blocks of life in an organism guided by the value of safety. This paves a new way for using biotechnologies safely. However, the Safe-by-Design approach moves the bulk of the responsibility for safety to the actors in the research and development phase. Also, it assumes that safety can be defined and understood by all stakeholders in the same way. These assumptions are problematic and might actually undermine safety. This research explores these assumptions through the use of a Group Decision Room. In this set up, anonymous and non-anonymous deliberation methods are used for different stakeholders to exchange views. During the session, a potential synthetic biology application is used as a case for investigation: the Food Warden, a biosensor contained in meat packaging for indicating the freshness of meat. Participants discuss what potential issues might arise, how responsibilities should be distributed in a forward-looking way, who is to blame if something would go wrong. They are also asked what safety and responsibility mean at different phases, and for different stakeholders. The results of the session are not generalizable, but provide valuable insights. Issues of safety cannot all be taken care of in the R&D phase. Also, when things go wrong, there are proximal and distal causes to consider. In addition, capacities of actors play an important role in defining their responsibilities. Last but not least, this research provides a new perspective on the role of instruction manuals in achieving safety.
Medical sciences have long since established an ethics code for experiments, to minimize the risk... more Medical sciences have long since established an ethics code for experiments, to minimize the risk of harm to subjects. Natural language processing (NLP) used to involve mostly anonymous corpora, with the goal of enriching linguistic analysis, and was therefore unlikely to raise ethical concerns. As NLP becomes increasingly widespread and uses more data from social media, however, the situation has changed: the outcome of NLP experiments and applications can now have a direct effect on individual users' lives. Until now, the discourse on this topic in the field has not followed the technological development , while public discourse was often focused on exaggerated dangers. This position paper tries to take back the initiative and start a discussion. We identify a number of social implications of NLP and discuss their ethical significance, as well as ways to address them.
In recent years, informed consent has been suggested as a way to deal with risks posed by enginee... more In recent years, informed consent has been suggested as a way to deal with risks posed by engineered nanomaterials. We argue that while we can learn from experiences with informed consent in treatment and research contexts, we should be aware that informed consent traditionally pertains to certain features of the relationships between doctors and patients and researchers and research participants, rather than those between producers and consumers and employers and employees, which are more prominent in the case of engineered nanomaterials. To better understand these differences, we identify three major relational factors that influence whether valid informed consent is obtainable, namely dependency, personal proximity, and existence of shared interests. We show that each type of relationship offers different opportunities for reflection and therefore poses distinct challenges for obtaining valid informed consent. Our analysis offers a systematic understanding of the possibilities for attaining informed consent in the context of nanomaterial risks and makes clear that measures or regulations to improve the obtainment of informed consent should be attuned to the specific inter-personal relations to which it is supposed to apply.
Steeds meer producten bevatten microscopisch kleine nanodeeltjes. Over de hieraan verbonden risic... more Steeds meer producten bevatten microscopisch kleine nanodeeltjes. Over de hieraan verbonden risico’s voor mens en milieu bestaat grote onzekerheid, terwijl hetzelfde geldt voor de mogelijke voordelen van toepassingen met nanodeeltjes. Bovendien is het zeer moeilijk om de risico’s te voorspellen voordat nanodeeltjes bevattende producten op de markt komen. Toepassing van de deeltjes verbieden vanwege de vermeende risico’s lijkt een te extreme reactie. Alles op z’n beloop laten kan echter ook niet. Daarom pleiten de auteurs voor een middenweg door de introductie van nanodeeltjes in de maatschappij op te vatten als een experiment.
Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) provides a framework for judging the ethical qualities ... more Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) provides a framework for judging the ethical qualities of innovation processes, however guidance for researchers on how to implement such practices is limited. Exploring RRI in the context of nanotechnology, this paper examines how the dispersed and interdisciplinary nature of the nanotechnology field somewhat hampers the abilities of individual researchers to control the innovation process. The ad-hoc nature of the field of nanotechnology, with its fluid boundaries and elusive membership, has thus far failed to establish a strong collective agent, such as a professional organization, through which researchers could collectively steer technological development in light of social and environmental needs. In this case, individual researchers cannot innovate responsibly purely by themselves, but there is also no structural framework to ensure that responsible development of nanotechnologies takes place. We argue that, in such a case, individual researchers have a duty to collectivize. In short, researchers in situations where it is challenging for individual agents to achieve the goals of RRI are compelled to develop organizations to facilitate RRI. In this paper we establish and discuss the criteria under which individual researchers have this duty to collectivize.
Impact! Is an initiative of Zoë Robaey and Shannon Spruit, two PhD candidates at the philosophy s... more Impact! Is an initiative of Zoë Robaey and Shannon Spruit, two PhD candidates at the philosophy section of TU Delft. Their work revolves around ethical aspects of the development and introduction of new technologies in society. The idea of Impact! developed through the regular ethics curriculum for engineering students at the TU Delft. Writing is the main medium of philosophy and the field relies on the quality of argumentation. However, this is not always the most accessible tool to communicate for students from technical backgrounds. This is why Robaey and Spruit explored the idea to develop other forms of expression for students to express their ethical views. 13 TU Delft students were brought to exchange with artists and philosophers and coached by Visual Communication coach Annick Spoelstra to express their ethical questions through visual media with the goal of engaging the public in their ethical concerns. This is a reference book in which the complete project is presented: starting from the set up of Impact! to the exhibition of the final works.
Nutrigenomics diverged from mainstream nutrition science, ideologically, instrumentally and cultu... more Nutrigenomics diverged from mainstream nutrition science, ideologically, instrumentally and culturally, due to the establishment of a protective niche. That protection is fading. This article chronicles a case in which convergence between nutrigenomics and nutrition science is pursued. Here we report the opportunities and hurdles that researchers within two large Dutch research consortia encountered when trying to engineer collaboration. The most salient hurdles are the complexity of and unfamiliarity with nutrigenomics, unclear and unshared notions of relevance; difficulties in organising data exchange; and the existence of two research cultures. Overcoming these technical and social hurdles will require the development of a shared ‘future’ for the relationship between nutrigenomics and nutrition science.
Workers who develop and use nanoparticles are on the front line of exposure to the purported risk... more Workers who develop and use nanoparticles are on the front line of exposure to the purported risks of nanoparticles. Employers have a legal duty to protect their employees against any work-related harm. However, it is difficult to perform the required risk assessment and management when dealing with uncertainty. Risk ethicists have therefore argued for using the precautionary principle to guide such decisions on uncertain risks. In this paper, I argue that if we want to make use of innovative products, such as nanomaterials, but lack the knowledge and shared standards for choosing between protective measures, the precautionary principle is underdetermined. For the use of nanoparticles in working environments, there are several guidelines that suggest different precautionary strategies for dealing with their purported risks, but choosing between these guidelines proves difficult in the absence of a clear, scientific, decision principle. I therefore explore the ethics of care to develop a complementary decision criterion for the precautionary principle. From this perspective, the caring qualities of working relationships are key in comparing precautions with each other. I propose three conditions for assessing risk management strategies based on (1) the existence of a mutual concern for employee health and safety, (2) the connectedness and continuity of the relationships between employer and employee, and (3) the responsiveness of employers to employee needs. Using these criteria will support choosing between precautions, by shifting attention from the acceptability of imposing a risk to creating a social context in which the imposition of the residual risks can be considered acceptable.
Chinese herbal medicines, often referred as Chinese materia medica (CMM), are comprised of a comp... more Chinese herbal medicines, often referred as Chinese materia medica (CMM), are comprised of a complex multicomponent nature. The activities are aimed at the system level via interactions with a multitude of targets in the human body. This review aims at the toxicity aspects of CMM and its preparations at the different steps of production; harvesting, processing and the final formulation. The historic perspective and today's issues of the safety of CMM are introduced briefly, followed by the descriptions of the toxic CMM in the current Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2005). Subsequently, several aspects of safety are illustrated using a typical example of a toxic CMM, Aconitum roots, and some recent findings of our own research are included to illustrate that proper processing and multi-herbs formulation can reduce the level of toxic components. This also explains that in CMM, some herbs, such as Aconitum, Ephedra species are never used as single herb for intervention and that aconite is only used when it is processed and in combination with specific matched other herbs. The formulation principle of multi-herbs intervention strategy is a systems approach for the treatment and prevention of disease. In this light, the role of systems toxicology in the safety and quality of Chinese herbal medicine is proposed as a promising method. Moreover the principles of practiced-based and evidence-based research are discussed from a symbiotic perspective.
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Papers by Shannon Spruit
The idea of Impact! developed through the regular ethics curriculum for engineering students at the TU Delft. Writing is the main medium of philosophy and the field relies on the quality of argumentation. However, this is not always the most accessible tool to communicate for students from technical backgrounds. This is why Robaey and Spruit explored the idea to develop other forms of expression for students to express their ethical views.
13 TU Delft students were brought to exchange with artists and philosophers and coached by Visual Communication coach Annick Spoelstra to express their ethical questions through visual media with the goal of engaging the public in their ethical concerns.
This is a reference book in which the complete project is presented: starting from the set up of Impact! to the exhibition of the final works.
The idea of Impact! developed through the regular ethics curriculum for engineering students at the TU Delft. Writing is the main medium of philosophy and the field relies on the quality of argumentation. However, this is not always the most accessible tool to communicate for students from technical backgrounds. This is why Robaey and Spruit explored the idea to develop other forms of expression for students to express their ethical views.
13 TU Delft students were brought to exchange with artists and philosophers and coached by Visual Communication coach Annick Spoelstra to express their ethical questions through visual media with the goal of engaging the public in their ethical concerns.
This is a reference book in which the complete project is presented: starting from the set up of Impact! to the exhibition of the final works.