IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 34

Method
The board of experts contributing to this work was
selected by the Human by Design Conference organizers following a search for leading thinkers in the fields
of Human Augmentation and Bioethics. The authors
have collaborated to create the framework, unaffiliated
with the conference organizers and sponsors, both of
whom had no input into the final document.
The board met over the course of ten weeks to discuss
precedents for ethical codes of behavior, led by a board moderator who assisted in editing written documentation of the
meetings. Democratic deliberation was used as a framework
for these discussions. A final ethical framework evolved
out these meetings and was edited and researched by the
board moderator and turned into a finalized document.
There are a number of historical precedents for a "code"
of ethical behavior within emergent fields of science. We
used a number of documents as frameworks for our own
deliberation. These documents are used more or less pragmatically by different stakeholder groups, and we incorporated our researched understanding of the usefulness
and impact of these documents into our own framework.
In chronological order, these documents included:
a) DIY Bio Code of Ethics (2011)
i) https://diybio.org/codes/
b) Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical
Issues (2010)
i) New Directions: Ethics of Synthetic Biology and
Emerging Technologies http://bioethics.gov/sites/
default/files/PCSBI-Synthetic-BiologyReport-1
2.16.1 0_0.pdf
c) Ethics of Human Enhancement: 25 Questions &
Answers (2009)
i) Prepared for the NSF http://ethics.calpoly.edu/nsf_
report.pdf
d) Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical
Issues (2006)
i) Bioethics for Every Generation: Deliberation and
Education in Health, Science, and Technology
http://bioethics.gov/sites/default/files/PCSBI_
Bioethics-Deliberation_0.pdf
e) Transhumanist Declaration (2002)
i) http://transhumanism.org/index.php/wta/declaration
f) Belmont Report (1979)
i) http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/
belmont-report/
g) Asilomar Convention (1975)
i) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC432675/

Ethical Framework
We relied on the frameworks presented in multiple documents, including New Directions: Ethics of Synthetic Biology and Emerging Technologies and Bioethics for Every
Generation: Deliberation and Education in Health, Science,

and Technology. These documents were co-authored by
one of our group members, Dr. Nita Farahany. The principles of democratic deliberation outlined in Bioethics for
Every Generation reflect an approach to collaborative decision making that embraces respectful debate of opposing
views and active participation by citizens.
There are four guiding principles of ethics under
which we categorize specific recommendations that will
guide further democratic deliberation of augmentation
for specific stakeholder groups.
1) Promote Freedom and Responsibility
a) Develop fair policies and intelligent regulation of
augmentation technologies.
2) Promote Public Beneficence
b) Recognize complexity of augmentation and integrate
complexity into deliberation of ethical decisions.
c) Minimize social disruption.
3) Promote Responsible Stewardship
d) Create educational resources for the public and those
interested in deliberating human augmentation.
e) Understand the rights and obligations of the augmentation community.
f) Adopt ethical principles for behavior and research.
4) Promote Justice
g) Promote fairness and equity for all.
h) Safeguard autonomy for individuals.

Promote Freedom and Responsibility
The freedom of individuals to pursue augmentation in
accord with their desires is only rightfully limited by the
social ramifications of their choices (i.e., to prevent
harm to others). The decision of individuals to use technology to alter their body should be an autonomous
decision. It should be noted that autonomous decisions
are not context-less. The decision to alter one's body in
an advantageous way can be disadvantageous to others, and this should always be considered.

Develop Fair Policies and Intelligent
Regulation of Technology
There should be a balanced, educated, and flexible regulatory approach to human augmentation. All communities
should encourage this for the safety and longevity of
research and public access to technology. Limitations can
be justifiable inasmuch as technology can increase disparity and inequality, reduce autonomy, and increase suffering of some while disproportionately benefiting others.

Promote Public Beneficence
Public beneficence is the moral obligation to act in socially
responsible ways. It means respecting the good of all members of the community both as individuals and as a community, being especially attentive to minimize social
harms. Respecting human good means acting in such a

IEEE TEchnology and SocIETy MagazInE

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march 2017

https://www.diybio.org/codes/ http://www.bioethics.gov/sites/ http://ethics.calpoly.edu/nsf_ http://www.bioethics.gov/sites/default/files/PCSBI_ http://www.transhumanism.org/index.php/wta/declaration http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC432675/

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