Researchers Dogterom and Lindner tackle bioethical issues with UNESCO
Last summer, Marileen Dogterom and Ariel Lindner, both members of the European Synthetic Cell Initiative community, joined UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee. Their objective? To ensure that the knowledge and technologies generated by research are used for the benefit of our planet and society.
The International Bioethics Committee sets standards in the field of bioethics
UNESCO is the United Nations body that contributes to peace and security by promoting international cooperation in education, science, culture, communication and information.
Within UNESCO, the International Bioethics Committee (IBC) aims to set standards in the field of bioethics. It comprises 36 independent experts appointed for four years to monitor progress in the life sciences and their applications to ensure respect for human dignity and freedom.
Last summer Marileen Dogterom and Ariel Lindner, who both assume various responsibilities, joined the IBC:
- Marileen is a University Professor at Delft University of Technology and Medical Delta Professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands. She has led the BaSyC (Building A Synthetic Cell) consortium since 2017 and is one of the initiators of the European Synthetic Cell Initiative. Since 2022, she has also been President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).
- Ariel Lindner is a Research Director at Inserm, a French public and technological institute dedicated to biomedical research and human health, where he heads the Systems Engineering and Evolution Dynamics (SEED) team within the Sorbonne Université – CNRS. Like Marileen, he holds a wide range of responsibilities: scientific advisor for Paris Biofoundry, co-founder of the Learning Planet Institute where he heads the Engaged Life Science (ELiS) department, co-head of BioconvS, and member of the iGEM board of directors.
What motivated them to join the committee?
For Ariel, tackling ethical issues is an integral part of any researcher’s mission.
“When I was offered to join the committee, I thought it was both a privilege and a responsibility one could not decline, as I believe it’s part of our role as scientists to query the social and ethical facets of our research work.”
Within the BaSyC research programme, Marileen and her colleagues are seeking to create an autonomous, self-reproducing synthetic cell and are discussing the future of synthetic cells. The developments underway in this field promise to bring “all sorts of brilliant applications but also, of course, ethical questions”. Marileen joined the IBC hoping to learn a lot over the next few years in this role.
“Synthetic cells fall within the much broader field of synthetic biology, which is currently the subject of reflection within the IBC,” she said.
What are their objectives with the committee over the next four years?
With her technical expertise in synthetic biology and synthetic cells, Marileen hopes to make a constructive contribution to the important work of the IBC.
“By contributing, at an early stage in the development of a given technology, to a thoughtful global dialogue on the ethical aspects of future applications, I hope to help increase the chances that this technology can be used for the benefit of the entire planet and its people.”
Ariel hopes to create “a fruitful dialogue between the various scientific stakeholders”, so that the committee can “get a relevant and concrete assessment of the future of scientific fields, and provide guidelines to maximise the chances of a positive impact on society and the planet’.