GEST stands for Global Ethics in Science and Technology. It is an international research project, funded by the European Union, in which the Rathenau Institute is working alongside four prominent sister institutes: UCLAN (United Kingdom), KIT (Germany), CASTED (China) and RIS (India).
Over the past twenty years, there has been much debate in Europe about the ethical aspects of science and technology. This debate has influenced the speed of developments in areas such as biotechnology. Europe is increasingly both working alongside and competing with the rapidly emerging economies of China and India, regions in which scientific and technological development has been rapid.
The aim of GEST is to identify the role which is, and should be, played by ethics in the decision-making with regard to science and technology in Europe, China and India. It will also promote cooperation between these regions. Three case studies examining emerging technologies which are of particular public interest – nanotechnology, food technology and synthetic biology – will form the backbone of the overall comparative study.
Among the project components which fall to the Rathenau Institute is the case study on the ethics of synthetic biology.
