Ginkgo Chief Jason Kelly is Chairing a Federal Biotech Advisory Group. Is That a Conflict of Interest?
John Pelissero, a senior scholar at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, said the fact that the committee is only advising Congress could actually limit conflict of interest concerns.
Most such commissions advise the executive branch, he said, where regulators can immediately enact policy based on their advice. But because of the notoriously slow and clunky American lawmaking process, the commission will be “like one step removed” from policy, Pelissero said. It could take years before members know if Congress listened to their advice.
“It’s not unethical for Congress to set up a body like this,” he said. “If you’re trying to get the best expertise and recommendations to the legislative branch, you probably do want people who are particularly immersed in a particular business or industry.”
John Pelissero, senior scholar, government ethics, quoted by STAT News. (paywall)
Jakob Polacsek/World Economic Forum - NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)