A new listing designed for Biology majors! Offered starting Spring 2025, 7.105 Ethics for Biologists and Engineers is co-taught by Biology Professor Leonard Guarente and Ethics for Engineers Instructor Peter Hansen. It is a weekly discussion-based course which examines how to apply an ethical framework to working with living systems. It combines theoretical readings from foundational ethical thinkers with real-life contemporary case studies. Topics we explore include justice, rights, bias, research integrity, human clinical trials, genetic engineering in human diseases and aging, creating human-animal hybrids, and the promise and peril of AI.

CRISPR and other technologies have given us amazingly powerful new tools. How should we use them? Is it ethical to manipulate the genomes of other species in order to eliminate diseases like malaria? Regarding humans, are there lines we shouldn’t cross? Is there a fundamental difference between biomedical therapy and enhancement? The potential for contributing to human well-being is tremendous, but is there a danger of altering humanity itself in ways we can’t anticipate? Should we be concerned that this technology could widen and harden inequities in our society and in the world? Human experimentation is crucial for medical progress, but it can be and has been horribly abused. Is “informed consent” a sufficient safeguard? Should there be limits on working with animals, or with human-animal hybrids? More broadly, are we wise enough to wield the tremendous power modern science is giving us? And what is the relation between behaving ethically and living our own lives well? This course is dedicated to exploring these questions, and to giving students tools with which to continue doing so throughout their careers and lives.

Our case studies examine and apply ethical thinking to real-life situations which contemporary biologists, bioengineers, and medical practitioners confront. Here is a list of topics our case studies cover.

  • Bias in medical practice
  • Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs)
  • Clinical trials overseas
  • CRISPR
  • Freedom of inquiry
  • Gain of function research
  • Gene drives
  • Human-animal hybrids
  • Human genome manipulation
  • Informed consent
  • Life extension
  • Replicability crisis
  • Research integrity
  • Theranos
  • Therapy, enhancement, and beyond
  • Tuskegee
“This class provides a great atmosphere for understanding the if and how of engineering. These concepts are particularly interesting in our modernizing world where new technology can further disparities rather than bridging them. This was one of my favorite classes at MIT, and I think all engineering students should take this class.” – Olutimilehin Omotunde, EECS
“Ethics for Engineers encourages you to think deeply about how material you learn in class applies to the wider scope of life. It’s a great balance between learning about foundational frameworks, sharing individual reflections, and discussing the broadly applicable issues we may encounter as STEM professionals and as individuals in society.” – Kelly Wu, ChemE
“Every MIT student should take Ethics for Engineers: the course pushes individuals to apply a broad yet thoughtful approach when making tradeoffs and pursuing complex projects that include many stakeholders. In addition, the readings and engaging discussions lay a foundation to reason through ambiguous problems, not just in philosophy but life” – Abilash Prabhakaran, EECS

“The power to control our species’ genetic future is awesome and terrifying. Deciding how to handle it may be the biggest challenge we have ever faced.” – Jennifer Doudna

“On a given body, to generate and superinduce a new nature or new natures is the work and aim of human power.” – Francis Bacon