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Università della Svizzera italiana

IdEP Seminar

13.05.2026

 
 
 

IdEP

 
 

IdEP Seminar - Human Enhancement Technologies: Private Demand, Regulation Preferences, and Moral Concerns
 

18.05

12:00
Red room (Executive Center)
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We study private demand and preferred governance for human enhancement technologies using a nationally representative survey experiment of U.S. adults (N=5,614). Respondents evaluate randomized vignettes varying benefit domain (cosmetic, health, productivity), mechanism (genetic vs. non-genetic biotechnology implant) and heritability, purpose (restorative vs. enhancing), and side-effect severity. Stated adoption is highest in health scenarios and lower in productivity and cosmetic ones; it falls sharply with severe side effects and enhancement framing, with an enhancement penalty comparable to the risk penalty. A sizable minority are never-adopters even when large benefits are offered, consistent with resistance that is not fully explained by standard consequentialist tradeoffs.
 
 

Speaker

 

18.05

Lunedì

Giovanni Immordino

Professor of Political Economy, Università Federico II, Napoli

12:00