Grant: Catalyst Grant: Human Microbiome

Research on the human microbiome and its potential applications have fundamental differences to other human health research in terms of legal and ethical implications. For instance, whereas most medicinal drugs prescribed in clinical settings do not have an effect beyond the individual patient, the use of microbes in clinical settings may also have a direct physical impact on members of the patient¿s family or community. Thus, developing a deeper understanding of the human microbiome may lead to interventions that target public as well as individual health. In addition, given that human microbiota are much easier to manipulate than the human genome, the number of potential applications arising from human microbiome research may well dwarf that of research on the human genome. Given these unique circumstances, the advent of research into the human microbiome stands to benefit from a parallel effort to develop ethical guidelines to regulate such research and its applications. Social scientific research can help by informing such regulatory frameworks so that emerging technologies are applied in line with community values. This in turn will foster public trust in the research and facilitate basic and translational research on the human microbiome. Such a regulatory framework would be most effective if it were to draw on the input from experts, stakeholders, and the public. In this project, we propose to begin the process of collating and critically analysing the diversity of views and positions on human microbiome research and its applications. The project will focus on interviews with experts and stakeholders, such as scientists specializing in microbiology, genomics and related fields, disability advocates, clinicians, and public health officials. Ideally, this work would also form the foundation for a follow up project that would focus on conducting a larger engagement event with members of the public informed by principles from deliberative democracy.