Ethics for life sciences engineers

The principle of Justice states that researchers have a duty to ensure a fair distribution of risks and benefits across society.  But does ‘society’ only mean those in the same geographic region and period of history as the engineer or scientists?  Does it also apply to those who are geographically distant?  Life sciences researchers can be connected across space through the sourcing of materials, for example, or through parts of manufacturing processes being outsourced to countries which may have cheaper costs and less regulation.  Since actions taken in the present may have long term consequences into the future, the question as to fairness across generations is also relevant. 

The practice of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used to identify potential impacts of engineering decisions across geographic distance and across generations.  This may include assessing environmental impacts from raw material extraction, through transport, manufacture, use, recycling and final disposal.  Similarly social can also be assessed in LCA methods which take into account data on, for example, variations in employment regulations and conditions across different countries used in a manufacturing process.  Using such approaches can increase awareness of the existence of ethical dilemmas which may not be evident if only local factors are considered.

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