Carolina QuotesSince the 1980's, we have been concerned about acceptable risk, but I believe that we have now entered the era of acceptable uncertainty.
Daniel A. Vallero Connected to the Carolinas
Source
No citation is recorded for this quotation.
no citation recorded
Cite this record
“Since the 1980's, we have been concerned about acceptable ri…” Daniel A. Vallero. Carolina Quotes, record CQ-F645212017. https://carolinaquotes.com/quote/f645212017
More from Daniel A. Vallero
Humility is fundamental in science. I recall during an update meeting with my PhD committee at Duke saying that I thought I would be ready to defend my dissertation in May. The unflappable engineering professor, Aarne Vesilind, said he agreed, but year was I talking about?
Scientific advances can wreak havoc with social values. What appears to be advanced thinking at times turns out to be retrograde attempts at dehumanization. Advances in technology can be used to commoditize human beings. Genetic fetal testing, for example, can be used to screen against the "unfit".
I believe synthetic biology forces society into the chaos of ethics. And, I believe that every connotation of "chaos" applies to the ethics of synthetic biology. Researchers must decide if a particular endeavor is ethical because, of course, mistakes can result due to the unpredictability of these very complex systems. I also believe that the original Greek and the Genesis, Chapter 1, understanding of formlessness applies, since scientists are trying to move to the simplest creatures possible, so-called "chassis bacteria", onto which they can add desirable traits at their choosing. Finally, I believe that the mathematical connotation of chaos applies, since even the most simple living creature is a dynamical system that is highly sensitive to initial conditions. I sometimes wonder about the extent to which those most intimately involved and those strongly advocating synthetic biology think about this.