Translational ethics: a perspective for the new millennium

Modern medical care is increasingly dependent on the application of science to clinical practice, which occurs through clinical or translational research. We propose the concept of translational ethics, which incorporates the contributions of research codes of ethics that involve the protection of human subjects into the ethics of clinical practice. The modern research environment, which has contributed the scientific tools of modern medicine, has also framed the ethical environment in which medicine is practiced. The single most important contribution of research codes for protection of human research subjects to clinical practice is the doctrine of informed consent. Translational ethics, based on autonomy and informed consent, progresses beyond the narrow interpretation of those 2 concepts. It requires consensual understanding of a spectrum of clinical interventions that are increasingly complicated. Translational ethics helps navigate the ethical ramifications of technological and scientific advances that will increasingly challenge the corporate-oriented health system in the new millennium.