**7. Conclusions**

Even a well-conceived, thoughtfully designed and carefully deployed technology can fail to meet ethical standards. For example, a noble outcome does not justify unethical means. Failure to follow appropriate safety protocols (e.g. physical containment in a biotechnology) or or violating research norms (plagiarizing or fabricating data) would be an unethical act. Even if standard protocols are followed, this is not sufficient if they do not properly apply to an emerging technology.

Ethical decisions must embody systems thinking and consideration of worst case scenarios. This goes beyond obvious misuse and abuse. More subtle drawbacks and abuses need to be avoided by researchers and practitioners. Due diligence requires that one considers all possible good and bad outcomes of an emerging technology. Good practice requires that even a good technology needs commensurate safety and security measures to ensure that it is not misused, since emerging technologies have few, if any, completely reliable precedents.
