With an empirical ethics program addressing the key ethical and social issues raised by genomics research (and its applications), but also by emerging fields of research such as human enhancement and nanotechnologies, the OMICS-ETHICS Research Group at the Bioethics Programmes, University of Montreal performs high-quality research and knowledge translation in an international context.

Omics is a neologism referring to a broad field of inquiry in applied bioscience that employs high... Read more

With an empirical ethics program addressing the key ethical and social issues raised by genomics research (and its applications), but also by emerging fields of research such as human enhancement and nanotechnologies, the OMICS-ETHICS Research Group at the Bioethics Programmes, University of Montreal performs high-quality research and knowledge translation in an international context.

Omics is a neologism referring to a broad field of inquiry in applied bioscience that employs high throughput biomarker technologies (e.g., genomics, metabolomics) integratively, for example, in pharmaceutical research (pharmacogenomics) and nutrition science (nutrigenomics). The overarching goal is to mechanistically analyze the relationships between phenotypic variation (e.g., disease susceptibility, response to drugs and food) and variation in various biological information domains such as in the human genome. With computational biology and bioinformatics tools that allow to analyze and interpret large scale omics datasets, omics bioscience research and its attendant social and ethical corollaries gain substantial significance.

While omics technologies are increasingly adopted, the research in this field, as well as its clinical and environmental applications continue to face important ethical and social issues. Socio-ethical engagement with omics technologies, as well as with other emerging biotechnologies, is crucial because the study of ethical aspects could influence and shape the promotion of health and welfare of individuals in a more predictable and sustainable manner while these technologies and associated innovations develop, instead of waiting until the science has already set its course. This has the potential to contribute substantially more to society than what is achievable with post-hoc (i.e., after the fact) ethical inquiries.

The OMICS-ETHICS Research Group aims (1) to lay an evidence-based empirical foundation that can both discern and anticipate the socio-ethical issues associated with omics technologies, along with other emerging technologies, such as nanotechnologies or human enhancement and (2) to study the feasibility of developing tools that can provide appropriate guidance in ethics-related matters to stakeholders in various fields of research and their applications, in particular in the above sub-disciplines as well as in personalized health interventions. The increasing application of omics science and other emerging technologies in a growing number of contexts and fields of science signals a need for major and complex policy changes that address ways to promote health and welfare of individuals and populations around the world.

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