Towards responsible medical biotechnology
In the coming years, the use of AI will alter the pace and methods of biotechnology research. AI can be used, for example, to develop drugs targeted at specific genetic profiles. Pushing the boundaries of what is technically possible will lead to new questions about what is socially desirable, and how these societal interests can be incorporated into the development of biotechnology
The Rathenau Instituut recently organised a number of social dialogues to explore what values and arguments people consider important in the development of biotechnology. Our research shows that public interests are only weakly represented in existing systems of innovation. Over the next two years, we will focus on how public values can be incorporated more structurally into the governance of biotechnology, including when AI plays an increasing role in it. We will remain involved as a societal partner in various research consortiums dealing with medical biotechnology.
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