Biotechnology and the Future of Medicine

Note that the Harvard Medical School Annual Bioethics Conference will be March 9-10, 2020, which is earlier than usual. The HMS ABC will explore the potential of biotechnology to drive and shape the future of clinical care and research.

The practice of medicine over the course of the last 50 years has changed dramatically. Novel technological developments will continue to generate new discoveries, therapies, and patient outcomes. Recent advances in
intertwined areas, such as stem cell-based bioengineering, organoid technology, low-cost personal genome sequencing, machine learning, and human genome editing have the potential to create more effective, personalized medical treatments.

As we progress toward this biotechnologically-driven medical future, we must consider how ethical values can shape these advancements and vice versa. This conference will examine how ethics interacts with biotechnology in medicine, and consider multiple approaches to how we might ensure that biotechnology continues to evolve ethically.

The Harvard Medical School Annual Bioethics Conference convenes leaders in the field to explore ethical questions and concerns in healthcare. Held each April, this conference facilitates conversations among experts, and supports members of ethics committees, health care professionals, bioethicists, administrators, attorneys and others who are interested in addressing ethical issues.