This paper reports our analysis of the ELSI Virtual Forum: 30 Years of the Genome: Integrating and Applying ELSI Research, an online meeting of scholars focused on the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of genetics and genomics. The proceedings and published literature demonstrate how justice in the implementation of genome science can be realized in two contexts: 1) by attending to equity in our decisions about how we allocate clinical and research resources, and 2) by attending to the equitable distribution of the benefits and risks of sharing genomic data. We conclude that members of the ELSI and genomics communities must work to ensure that human biases are not implemented along with genomic medicine.
Professionalism and codes of ethics are intrinsically tied. As professions establish themselves, their members write codes of ethics to help define the professions and who can be a considered a professional. The codes explain why and how professions are deserving of trust, establish standards with specific guidelines for ethical practice, and designate who will have the authority to enforce standards [2]. One initial task for a code of ethics is to define the profession and exclude rivals. The 1847 American Medical Association (AMA) Code of Ethics [3] was part of a strategy to separate physicians from charlatans by excluding the latter from the society of scientifically trained physicians seeking standing and respect for their professional knowledge and expertise. Exclusion means settings standards, and setting standards requires specialized education requirements for professional membership, certification by standardized tests, methods of licensure and credentialing for practitioners, and accreditation for institutions that educate and employ them [2]. All of this is designed to create a sense of trust in the profession and the persons who practice it-a foundation for physicians' fiduciary relationships with members of the public. Do clinical ethicists need a code of ethics? Since their expertise is in ethics, one might imagine they are aware of the ethical responsibilities of being a clinical ethicist and even that they are inclined to act virtuously [4]. Are they ethics professionals in particular? Many clinical ethicists are already members of other professions-bioethicists generally receive terminal degrees in a profession outside of bioethics, commonly in law, the health professions, philosophy, or humanities and owe allegiance to one or another code for members of professional societies, such as the American Nurses Association [5], the National Association of Social Workers [6], the Association of American Chaplains [7],
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