Translational research—the need of a new bioethics approach

Abstract

Translational research tries to apply findings from basic science to enhance human health and well-being. Many phases of the translational research may include non-medical tasks (information technology, engineering, nanotechnology, biochemistry, animal research, economy, sociology, psychology, politics, and so on). Using common bioethics principles to these areas might sometimes be not feasible, or even impossible. However, the whole process must respect some fundamental, moral principles. The purpose of this paper is to argument the need for a different approach to the morality in translational bioethics, and to suggest some directions that might be followed when constructing such a bioethics. We will show that a new approach is needed and present a few ethical issues that are specific to the translational research. ; This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 643636 "Sound of Vision" for authors SH, AM, RU, OJ. The article was revised by HS while he was a scholar in the Research Ethics Education in the Balkans and Black Sea Countries program, financed by NIH, No 1R25TW008171-01A1. The work has been funded by the Sectoral Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007–2013 of the Ministry of European Funds through the Financial Agreement POSDRU/159/1.5/S/132397 for author MD. ; Peer Reviewed