Presentation Title: “Expansion of the ethical, legal and social implications of technologies, and the role of bioethics”

Abstract:

The advancements in medical and life sciences, such as organ transplantation, assisted reproductive technologies, genetic engineering, human genome analysis, cloning, and genome editing technologies, have created various ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI), influencing people's perspectives on life and death. In my view, bioethics serves as one means to address these ELSI and contemplate how to approach them. Scientific and technological progress shows no sign of slowing down, leading to the emergence of new technologies and new ELSI, with bioethics often playing catch-up. In recent times, there has been a growing focus on the "Governance of Emerging Technology," which aims to address the management and control of newly emerging technologies, and it has also gained significant attention in the realm of international policy coordination. The debates surrounding the development of artificial intelligence (AI) are a prime example of this. Furthermore, the implications of new scientific technologies are closely linked to national security, as they can also be utilized as military technologies. In Japan, there have been criticisms that the government's support for scientific technologies has not resulted in technologies useful for national security, and there are calls to regulate the transfer of advanced scientific technologies abroad for potential military applications. These security- related issues, too, fall within the scope of ELSI, as I believe. ELSI is expanding in scope, and when considering how to address these challenges, we must ponder how to create a more humane and livable society.