Questions at the Nexus of Behavioral Genetics (BG) & Bioethics: MEANING Matters, Too

1. Questions at the Nexus of Behavioral Genetics (BG) & Bioethics:MEANING Matters, Too Erik Parens, PhD parense@thehastingscenter.org PCSBI, Washington, DC February 28, 2011

2. Challenge • You/we should figure out how to help citizens recognize: (a) how fascinating and complicated the results of the new sciences of human behavior * are, and (b) how important it is to continue asking what those results do—and do not—mean for fundamental ideas like freedom and equality *including BG, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, developmental biology, etc.

3. “Emblematic” History of BG • 1966, Leonard Heston’s schizophrenia (SZ) paper appears • showed that genetic differences matter in explaining emergence of SZ • similar results for other common disorders andbehaviors • 1990 Human Genome Project (HGP) begins • aspiration to discover which genetic differences matter • e.g., discover “the gene for SZ” analogous to “gene for PKU” • maybe even “the gene for aggression” • Early 2000s • realization that original HGP picture was vastly simplified • “[Around the start of the HGP] many optimists could envision the imminent identification of genetic causes for common human diseases such as SZ. The truth is exactly the opposite.” (Gottesman & Petronis, 2003)

4. More Complicated, Fascinating Truth • Most genes don’t “code for” just 1 product / have just 1 effect • “the central dogma” in throes of radical revision • Understanding single genes requires understanding interactions: • “genomic environment” • cellular environment • intrauterine environment • family environment • social environment • “environment environment” • Everything matters ! • genes, neurons, hormones, nutrients, stress, social status, toxins...

5. Three Types of Question PRACTICE of BG MEANING of BG CAUSES ofBioethical Views

6. Questions re: PRACTICE of Behavioral Genetics • Most people think first of bioethicists as engaging such questions • PCSBI’s goal is to identify and promote “policies and practices that ensure [that] scientific research, health care delivery, and technological innovation are conducted in an ethically responsible manner.” • Bioethicists answer questions like: • How should researchers handle incidental findings from BG research? • How should policy makers prioritize offer of BG tests? • Because patients need protection, researchers need guidance, policy makers need budgets, • PRACTICE questions require answers

7. Questions re:MEANING of Behavioral Genetics Findings • Behavioral genetics investigates human behavior • raises old questions about meaning of human freedom • what do we mean when we say someone is “free”? • how can we be objectsand subjects? • Behavioral genetics investigates genetic differences • raises old questions about meaning of moral equality • what do we mean when we say that all persons are “equal” • how can we be physically differentand morally equal? • Those questions do not admit of answers the way PRACTICE questions do • they demand more conversation, more questioning

8. MEANING Questions (cont.) • How we handle MEANING questions may affect how we handle some important PRACTICE questions • Can we investigate genetic differencesbetween groups, while maintaining our commitment to moral equality, or does such research ineluctably lead to discrimination? • Can continuing to investigate the determinants of behavior support our efforts to act more humanely toward people who act badly, or do the results of such investigations ineluctably lead to de-humanization? • But even apart from potential practical payoffs of asking MEANING questions, we should be asking them • because as human beings and as citizens of a democracy, we care about what freedom and equality mean

9. Questions re:CAUSES of Bioethical Views • Late 60s, when bioethics began, bioethicists leaned toward “cognitivist” understanding of their own practice: • apply disinterested reason to issues of “bio” practice and policy • Emerging field of moral psychology invites more complex view of bioethics • moral psychologists seek to explain why human beings vary in their responses to the same ethical question • lots lately about neuroscience contribution to moral psychology • but evolutionary biology, developmental biology, developmental psychology, social psychology—even BG (however small)—can in principle contribute to CAUSAL explanations of “bioethical views”

10. Questionsabout CAUSES admit of “scientific” answers • BG might someday play small role in explaining differential responses to same question some re some PRACTICE • BG might do something similar for MEANING questions • PRACTICE questions require “actionable” answers • BG researchers need help deciding how to handle incidental findings • MEANING questions demand more conversation, more questioning • what do we mean by freedom and equality? • what do—and don’t—BG findings mean for those fundamental values?

11. Conclusion • Our culture is ever less patient with MEANING questions • Some great universities are flagging in their commitment to asking them • asking doesn’t “grow economy”/protect from harm/improve health • but human beings & citizens don’t care only about those things • Challenge: how can you / we facilitate a conversation to help citizens recognize: (a) how fascinating and complicated the results of the new sciences of human behavior are, and (b) how important it is to ask what the results of those sciences do—and do not—mean for fundamental ideas like freedom and equality.