BIOL 437 Week 13 (Ethics)

Question 1

differences from other areas of science

Answer 1

-roots are from public health and medicine
-ultimate goal is to improve human health
-public policy development is cruicial
>impact on society
>use of resources
>more immediate “stakeholders”

Question 2

obligations to study subjects

Answer 2

• informed consent (ex. Henrietta Lacks)
• rights of the individual vs. welfare study
• communicating results of study to subjects

Question 3

use of medical records

Answer 3

-make info available to researchers without providing identifiers to link to an individual

Question 4

privacy and confidentiality general practices

Answer 4

• informed consent
• data stored under secured conditions
• study numbers only on data forms
• destory individual info at end of study
• publish results as group data
• individual identifying info not retained electronically
• routine review of practices with all research team members

Question 5

race and ethnicity

Answer 5

• used in describing populations and hypothesis generation where race could be an independent variable
• use with good judgement

Question 6

conflict of interest

Answer 6

• perceived biases
• actual biases
• funding

Question 7

intrepretation of findings

Answer 7

• manner in which study is reported can have significant consequences
• gaining trust of public with evidence-based conclusions
• unconfirmed reports, role of the media
• social media
• understanding uncertainty and risk

Question 8

historical examples of ethics in science

Answer 8

• finding a cure for scurvy
• discovery of vaccinations
• acquiring HeLa cells
• human experimentation during WWII

Question 9

finding a cure for scurvy

Answer 9

-Dr James Lind
-experimented with sailors
>randomly divided 12 men into six treatment groups
>given various dietary supplements
>ones given lemons and limes improved significantly

Question 10

discovery of 1st vaccine (small pox)

Answer 10

-Edward Jenner
-observed milkmaids were immune to smallpox
-vaccine for smallpox was produced from cowpox virus
>less side effects than variolation
>no collateral infections
-smallpox is the only human pathogen eradicated by vaccination

Question 11

“Tuskegee study of untreated syphilis in negro male”

Answer 11

• misrepresented lumbar punctures as treatment
• told study would last 6 months
• never treated with penicillin or other drugs
• never advised that syphillis is infectious
• terminated in 1972 due to a whistleblower (Peter Buxton)

Question 12

acquiring HeLa cells

Answer 12

-doctors took tissue sample without her consent
-researchers created the HeLa cell line
>first human cell culture that was able to divide indefinitely
-family did not find out until a family friend mentioned he was working with HeLa cells
-Rebecca Skloot wrote a book and worked extensively with Henrietta’s family

Question 13

Nazi Germany (WWII)

Answer 13

-expermental sterilization at Auschwitz
>radiation exposure via deception
-induced hypothermia
-low pressure chamber to mimic high altitude
-creation of conjoined twins
-testing drugs to treat effects of mustard gas burns and phosphine gas

Question 14

Imperial Japan (WWII)

Answer 14

• large-scale epidemics from bacterial inoculations
• biological and chemical weapons
• vivisections, dismemberments

Question 15

indigenous populations in Canada

Answer 15

-600 children from reserves in Sask
>used in trail for a TB vaccine
>no parental consent
-residential schools in Canada
>nutritional experiments