The Pontifical Academy for Life, the NCCR Molecular Systems Engineering of the University of Basel and ETH (Zurich, Switzerland), the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital Rome, Italy), organize the 1st International Conference Ethics of Engineering Life, 26-27 September 2022 (Palazzo Pio, Piazza Pia 3 – 00193 Roma)
Opening session: Abp. Vincenzo Paglia, Pontifical Academy for Life, Vatican City; prof. Ralf Stutzki, NCCR; prof. Daniel Müller (Switzerland).
The engineering of molecular and cellular systems for clinical applications capitalizes on the unique competences achieved worldwide within the past 10 years. Big leaps toward applying engineering principles to clinics and to restore body functions are provided by the development of gene-based and cell-based therapies. Successful attempts to include the restoration of vision, the control of metabolic disorders, or the growth of tissues and organs for replacement. While in the long run such systems engineering approaches will help to cure pertinent diseases, methods to modify, edit, correct and/or complement the genome of patients can be also used to improve a person’s lifestyle, or be even misused in various ways. To address the ethical aspects of such attempts towards engineering life, the 1st International Conference Ethics of Engineering Life brings together stakeholders in developing and applying approaches to edit and control living systems, clinicians applying such procedures, ethicists, philosophers, communicators and artists, and other relevant representatives of our global society.
https://iceel.info/
Vatican City, September 20, 2022
ACCREDITATION PROCEDURE
Journalists and media operators who wish to participate must apply, no less than 24 hours before the event, through the Holy See Press Office online accreditation System available at: press.vatican.va/accreditamenti
PROGRAM
1st International Conference Ethics of Engineering Life
Vatican, Rome – September 26-27, 2022
Monday, September 26
09:00 – 09:20 OPENING
– Welcome, Renzo Pegoraro
– Welcome note, Vincenzo Paglia, President PAL
– Ethics and Engineering Life, introduction and overview, Ralf Stutzki
– Engineering Molecular Systems, introduction and overview, Daniel Müller
09:20 – 10:10 ETHICS AND GENE-BASED ENGINEERING Chair: Renzo Pegoraro
– Gene-editing: ethical and legal challenges, Laura Palazzani, Full professor at LUMSA (Roma), vice-president of the Italian National
Bioethic Committee, member of EGE (European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies)
– Gene-based therapy: delivering on the promise? Luk Vandenberghe, Harvard Medical School
10:10 – 10:40 COFFEE BREAK
10:40 – 11:30 ETHICS AND CELL-BASED ENGINEERING Chair: Daniel Müller
– Engineering cellular systems: modify, repair, but not at all costs. Which ethical benchmarks? Marie-Jo Thiel, University of Strasbourg
– Cell-based therapies of the future, Martin Fussenegger, ETH Zürich
11:30 – 12:20 ETHICS AND ORGANOID-BASED ENGINEERING Chair: Daniel Müller
– Exploring the ethics of gastruloids, Nienke de Graef, Leiden University Medical Center
– Stem cell-derived organoids model human disease, Hans Clevers, Roche Pharma
12:20 – 14:00 LUNCH
14:00 – 14:40 YOUNG RESEARCHERS’ SESSION part I Chair: Carlo Casalone
14:40 – 15:30 PANDEMIC – LESSONS LEARNED Chair: Ana Borovecki
– Medicine changes fast. Medicine changes in the instant: healthcare professionals and COVID-19, Montserrat Esquerda Aresté, Ramon Llull University
– COVID-19 and vaccines: what did we learn?, Emanuele Cozzi, University of Padua
15:30 – 15:45 COFFEE BREAK
15:45– 16:35 REGULATION & COMMUNICATION Chair: Alberto Tozzi
– Engineering life and legal regulation: from principles to ex post evaluation, Federico de Montalvo Jääskeläinen, Comillas Pontifical
University
– The challenge of communicating bioengineering in a harsh debate, Marco Cattaneo, National Geographic
16:35 – 17:45 RELIGIOUS VIEWS ON ENGINEERING LIFE PANEL
Moderators: Renzo and Ralf Emmanuel Agius, Christianity; University of Malta
Andrea Genazzani, Judaism; University of Pisa
Guido Giordano, Buddhism; Roma Tre University
Ilhan Ilkilic, Islam; Istanbul University
17:45 END OF ONLINE STREAMING DAY 1 walk over to Filmoteca
18:20 – 19:00 Engineering Life and Us – an ArtScI project, Michel Comte
Tuesday, September 27
09:15 – 10:30 ENGINEERING LIVING SYSTEMS AND BIOETHICAL PRINCIPLES Chair: Laura Palazzani
– The conundrum of translational ethics – Engineering gaps between theories and practices, Henk ten Have, Duquesne University
– Vision restoration, Botond Roska, Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel
– Ethical implications of digital twins, Alberto E. Tozzi, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital
10:30 – 11:00 COFFEE BREAK
11:00 – 11:50 GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES Chair: Henk ten Have
– Unity in diversity: how development of biotechnology can serve the needs of all, Kevin Fitzgerald, Creighton University
– Global bioethics and the new possibilities for engineering life, Ana Borovecki, University of Zagreb
11:50 – 12:30 YOUNG SCIENTISTS’ SESSION part II Chair: Carlo Casalone
12:30 – 14:00 LUNCH
14:00 – 16:00 FOCUS PANEL Chairs: Kevin Fitzgerald and Ana Borovecki
– GOVERNANCE
Ethical requirement for global governance and oversight of gene editing, Jacques Simpore, University of Ouagadougou
– PATIENTS VIEW
User experiences without scientific basis How do you deal with experiences that you have gained as a patient, caretaker or equipment supplier in daily practice without being supported by scientific research and evidence?, Jack Janssen, Dutsch Najjar Foundation
– COMMUNICATION
The media’s role in education and equality of access to emerging medical technology, Jennifer Copestake, Vatican Bureau, Salt+Light
Television
– MEDICINE
Gene therapy: clinical perspective, Hendrik Scholl, Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel
– CORPORATION
Opportunities and challenges in gene and cell therapy, Tim Hunt, Alliance for Regenerative Medicine
16:00 END OF ONLINE STREAMING DAY 2
16:00 – 16:30 COFFEE BREAK
16:30 – 18:30 ETHICS STATEMENT SESSION Round table
Wednesday, September 28
10:00 – 12:00 ATTENDANCE OF THE PUBLIC AUDIENCE OF THE POPE
