The Design of Novel Cellular Biomedical Technologies: Implications for Responsibility, Transparency and Patient Wellbeing

There are many novel cell-based technologies currently under development in university laboratories across the United States. These technologies include genetic engineering, synthetic biology, and nano-sized drug delivery, and are intended to treat patients at the cellular level. The early-stage designers of these technologies are often researchers working in laboratory groups associated departments of biomedical engineering. Although these groups play a critical role within the context of healthcare, they are rarely considered as having a fiduciary relationship with patients and a duty to provide trustworthy technologies. In this short paper, part of the results of a laboratory ethnography of cellular biomedical engineers is presented. Based on observations, interviews, and document analysis, the design practices of laboratory developing novel cellular technologies is considered. Using the conceptual tenets of Value Sensitive Design (VSD), the values of responsibility, transparency, and wellbeing are implicated in this analysis. The principles of translational medicine are also found to strongly influence cellular biomedical engineering laboratory activities.