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Yvain comments on Just a reminder: Scientists are, technically, people. - Less Wrong
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I would trust someone who understood and could use utilitarianism to solve ethical issues better than someone who didn't. Of course, modern bioethicists don't, so this is hardly a point in their favor. But I think in a perfect world people could specialize in ethics and gain unusual competence in that field.
The one real worry I have about scientists is that they're too personally invested. I wouldn't trust the guy who'd spent ten years of his life inventing a stem cell technique to determine when the technique probably shouldn't be used because of ethical issues. And I think that carries over to entire fields; biologists, in general, will have an personal investment in biological discoveries.
Optimal solution is smart people with scientific training specializing in utilitarian ethics. In our own world, I trust scientists about as much as anyone else, maybe a little more.
I have this same worry about a lot of bioethicists. Their whole shtick is telling scientists what they are and aren't allowed to do, and getting public support for their own actions. That's a recipe for fearmongering and being more restrictive than they should be in order to justify their own existence.
Obviously there are ethical decisions to be made in the field of biology, and it would probably be nice to have people who specialize in hashing out those issues, but the way the system is being set up seems dangerously dependent on -- and compliant to -- unfounded public fears.