Why a Center for Ethics, Science, and the Public?
In an era of social fragmentation and contested facts, science represents humanity’s best cooperative truth-seeking endeavor. At the same time, the ethical assessment of developments in science and technology must be responsive to diverse values and ways of life. The mission of the Kavli Center for Ethics, Science, and the Public at Berkeley is to provide an inclusive, democratic, and multidisciplinary framework for understanding the ethical implications of science and technology, training the next generation of leaders, guiding the development of policy concerning anticipated and actual scientific advances, and helping to ensure that they are answerable to fundamental human interests.
Why is a Kavli Center for Ethics, Science, and the Public important today? Founding faculty member and Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna, who has pioneered research on CRISPR gene editing, explains:
"After our 2012 paper revolutionized scientific research and CRISPR became global headline news, I had to quickly learn how to toggle between two responsibilities: academic teaching and research to further develop the technology, and a new role engaging with journalists, politicians, and lawmakers to publicly discuss how we as a society can safely apply breakthrough gene editing technology, including the risks of making heritable changes in the human germline. It would have been immensely helpful to have had a central resource to help me as a scientist — and as a concerned citizen — navigate the complex ethical implications of our work."– Jennifer Doudna, October 2020