🍸Tech & Tonic: Research ethics in an era of high-stakes technologies
A Tech & tonic session on the role of research ethics in this dawning era of unprecedented technological power
RegisterWhat does it mean to do responsible research when today’s technologies can alter our bodies, our brains, and the planet?
Biotechnology can already design new pathogens that could trigger global pandemics – or create the antibodies that might prevent them. Neurotechnology is moving quickly from research labs into everyday products, raising the question of who gets to own our thoughts and identities. And the possibility that even a single country or actor could unilaterally deploy or test Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) is becoming more real, despite our limited understanding of the consequences.
In a world like this, can research ethics guide the emergence of high-stakes technologies before they leave the lab? How can research guardrails keep up with evolving uncertainties and difficult trade-offs? What is the right EU research ethics approach to technologies emerging globally and with high-stakes impact?
As research takes on new strategic importance for the EU in this increasingly complex geopolitical landscape, this final Tech & Tonic of 2025 brought together leading voices in research ethics and science-for-policy.
With Jim Dratwa (European Commission) and Dafna Feinholz (UNESCO), we explored:
- How research ethics can help steer biotech, neurotech, and climate intervention research before these technologies reach consumer shopping carts or political agendas
- Which forms of research governance support, rather than predetermine, policy choices?
- What should responsibility mean for European research funders in fast-moving global technology fields?
- How can ethics, foresight, and science advice work together to support democratic and responsible decision-making?
Speakers
Matthias Honegger
Climate Interventions Director
Dafna Feinholz
Chief of Bioethics and Ethics of Science and Technology, UNESCO
Jim Dratwa
Head of Science for Policy, European Commission
