Vatican City – Biotechnology, such as gene therapy, to treat human diseases is advancing so rapidly that the public’s knowledge of what is happening and what ethical and legal guidelines are needed understanding is too late, said a speaker at the Vatican Conference.

“The science is moving forward. The train is moving. But instead of lamenting this, we need to take the initiative to hop on that train, intervene, and divert the train to another track if necessary.” He holds a PhD in Molecular Systems Engineering from the National Center for Research Competence at the University of Basel, Switzerland.

“We will certainly have to lead the afterthought debates, weigh the future good and bad outcomes, and make brave decisions,” he said in a Sept. 26 report on engineering life. at the first international conference on the ethics of

The meeting on September 26-27 was jointly organized by the Pontifical Academy of Life Sciences, Molecular Systems Engineering and the Bambino Gesu Children’s Hospital in Rome. To address the ethical aspects of “engineering” molecules, cells and cell functions, the conference will include scientists involved in developing and applying approaches to “edit and control” biological systems, according to the Academy. and stakeholders were invited. Ethicist; Philosopher; Communicator; Others.

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Academy, said in his opening remarks that the purpose of the Academy is to study and consider today’s scientific and technological developments, especially in the field of life and health.

“We are focused on people and an integrated vision of an ever more just society,” and we value our “common home.” Promoting knowledge and understanding” is very important.

Extending this dialogue to the wider public will promote “a deeper understanding and broader acceptance of scientific discoveries” and “help guide science to understand the real needs of society and the dignity of people.” So it tends to counteract the greed of the market,” said the archbishop. He said.

Human cells and tissues can be generated without the use of human embryos and manipulated in ways that can repair damaged tissue or alleviate disease.

For example, stem cells can be grown from healthy or diseased human tissue and used to create “organoids” composed of the same tissue from which they originated, serving as cellular models for that organ. said Hans Clevers, a Dutch molecular geneticist and stem. Cell researcher leading pharmaceutical, research and early development at the Swiss company Roche.

Stem cells from the lining of the gastrointestinal tract can be grown and transplanted into the colon or colon to heal lesions and ulcers caused by inflammatory bowel disease “like a living band-aid,” he said. Stated.

Alternatively, if a person has cancer, “sequence the tumor” from specific cancer cells and expose the tissue grown in the lab to a wide variety of drug treatments until the most effective treatment is found. Using these synthetic organoids to test treatments “will tell you which drugs the person will (or won’t) respond to.”

He said that laboratory-grown organoids and “embryoid bodies” are part of a field that is “changing very rapidly” and requires “strong ethical considerations.”

Embryoid bodies are embryo-like structures of assembled pluripotent stem cells that behave like early embryos. It is made from embryonic stem cells and lacks the essential cell types needed to develop beyond this early stage. The Catholic Church opposes research involving human embryonic stem cells that requires destruction of the human embryo. and endorses adult stem cell research that does not involve human embryonic stem cells.

Clevers said that as research progresses, these embryoid bodies will look more and more like real embryos, raising even more ethical concerns.

“We need really strong guidelines out there. Scientists aren’t the best ethicists, at least biologists in general aren’t the best ethicists because they’re just curious and want to know what the next step is.” Because they want to know and they don’t learn to step back easily,” he said.

But some scientists have learned that it’s important to involve ethicists in meetings, ask a variety of questions, and help them “step back” to figure out what they really want to do. added.

Physician and theologian Marie-Jo Thiel, who teaches ethics and moral theology in Strasbourg, France, believes that religion and Catholic theology are already “the values ​​of justice and the dignity of all human beings,” especially those of the most vulnerable. He said it provides an important voice in support of dignity. and fragile.

Ethics must take a broad “global” perspective that considers “not only what we can do with molecules, tissue systems and engineering, but what their power can do for us, our society.” must be effect, she said in her talk.

Information must be transparent and shared with the wider public, including a ‘mandatory’ disclosure of all ‘negative results’ and impacts.

Debate “must not always remain confined to discussions and battles between professionals who are not specially trained in ethics,” she added, noting that in these areas “the kind of society we want to be.” The type and receptivity to ongoing change should be discussed. .

Financial costs must also be considered, she said, as the price of biotechnology can be “really prohibitive.” Not only is access to treatment limited to those who can afford it in privately-financed systems, but in universal or socialized health systems, paying high costs to just a few people limits access to others. Many may be deprived of primary care.

“Values ​​and ethics are not limitations or obstacles to innovation and change. They represent a compass that tells us that responsible, inclusive and sustainable ways are best for the future,” she said. , citing the 2021 report by the European Commission on Ethics and Science.

Thiel said all sides must work together in a relationship based on trust.

Trust is “the cement for co-building the world we want and laying down the various ethical bricks that are decisive for us,” she said.