PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Alan Cribb TI - Translational ethics? The theory–practice gap in medical ethics AID - 10.1136/jme.2009.029785 DP - 2010 Apr 01 TA - Journal of Medical Ethics PG - 207--210 VI - 36 IP - 4 4099 - http://jme.bmj.com/content/36/4/207.short 4100 - http://jme.bmj.com/content/36/4/207.full SO - J Med Ethics2010 Apr 01; 36 AB - Translational research is now a critically important current in academic medicine. Researchers in all health-related fields are being encouraged not only to demonstrate the potential benefits of their research but also to help identify the steps through which their research might be ‘made practical’. This paper considers the prospects of a corresponding movement of ‘translational ethics’. Some of the advantages and disadvantages of focusing upon the translation of ethical scholarship are reviewed. While emphasising the difficulties of crossing the gap between scholarship and practice, the paper concludes that a debate about the business of translation would be useful for medical ethics.