European Network of Documentation for Ethics of Biotechnology - ENDEBIT
Given the tremendous speed of biotechnological innovation in the context of the 21st century, the increasing importance to think clearly and critically about the ethics of biotechnology have led to a wide-ranging discussion: The implications and consequences of biotechnological innovations for health, environment, economy, legislation and society from an ethical perspective have become more and more complex.
It was therefore important that scientific experts and the public were provided with an effective and efficient access to sources of information that document the state of research and the debates to which it has given rise.
The fields of research and documentation covered by ENDEBIT spanned the entire spectrum of non-medical biotechnology ethics or "green" bioethics. An extension of the network into further countries-particularly in view of the enlargement of the EU was planned and realised.
Partners
ENDEBIT consisted of partners in seven European countries. Initial members were:
- Interdepartmental Center for Ethics in Sciences and Humanities (IZEW), University of Tübingen (Project Coordinator) (http://www.izew.uni-tuebingen.de)
- Ethiek Instituut (EIU), Utrecht University, the Netherlands (http://www.ethics.uu.nl)
- Center for Education, Research and Information on Science and Society (CERISS) in Milan, Italy
- National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) in Paris, France (http://www.inra.fr)
- Sheffield Institute of Biotechnological Law and Ethics (SIBLE) at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom (http://www.shef.ac.uk/~sible/)
In 2003, two additional members joined ENDEBIT:
- Institute of Philosophy, University of Warsaw, Poland (http://www.filozofia.uw.edu.pl)
- Centre for Bioethics, University of Brno, Czech Republic (http://www.med.muni.cz/UCB/index.htm)
Institutional Framework
Together with the medical-ethically oriented documentation project EUROETHICS and a joint webpage, ENDEBIT was part of the "European Information Network Ethics in Medicine and Biotechnology" (EURETHNET), funded by the 5th framework programme of the EU from 2002-2005 (http://www.eureth.net). This network, which comprised twenty six European partners, played an essential role in the establishment of a European debate on issues relating to ethics in biomedicine and biotechnology.
Many of the former Eurethnet partners are recently reorganised in the follow-up project Ethicsweb (Inter-connected European information and documentation system for ethics and science: European Ethics Documentation Centre) running from 2008 to 2011 within the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission.
Goals and Results
The goal of the European Network of Documentation for Ethics of Biotechnology (ENDEBIT) project was to create a European information database on the internet where the literature on the ethics of non-medical biotechnology is documented with comprehensive bibliographical information and could be searched by means of a common multilingual index.
Due to technological innovation and institutional changes, the bibliographic records of the former ENDEBIT database will be integrated in the upcoming portal of the follow-up project Ethicsweb.Beyond that, about 2/3 of all Endebit records are already stored permanently available in the IZEW's literature database LEWI.
Contact for Further Inquiries
PD Dr. Thomas Potthast
Phone:++49 7071 - 29 75 251
E-Mail: thomas.potthast[at]uni-tuebingen.de