"...science and its products are intersecting more frequently with certain human beliefs and values. As science encroaches more closely on heavily value-laden issues, members of the public are claiming a stronger role in both the regulation of science and the shaping of the research agenda.

To many, this appears to be a new dimension of the science/society relationship (in truth, it may be a recurrent dimension, because the same issues have been prominent at other historical moments). We’ve been used to having science and technology evaluated primarily on the basis of potential risks and benefits. However, our recent experience suggests that a third, values-related dimension will influence the conduct and support of science in the future. Taizo Nishimuro, chairman of the board at Toshiba Corporation, suggested at the Science and Technology in Society Forum in Kyoto, Japan, in November 2004 that whereas historically science and technology have changed society, society now is likely to want to change science and technology, or at least to help shape their course.

For many scientists, any such overlay of values on the conduct of science is anathema to our core principles and our historic success. Within the limits of the ethical conduct of science with human or animal subjects, many believe that no scientifically answerable question should be out of bounds. Bringing the power of scientific inquiry to bear on society’s most difficult questions is what we have done best, and that often means telling the world things that it might not initially like."