L6:L6: ETHICS IN NEUROSCIENCE

Question 1

ANIMAL RESEARCH

Answer 1

Very rigid regulations
Replacement, refine and reduce
Registered by the home office, have to apply for a licence that lasts 5 years- 200 page documents, explaining every research and procedure want to do over the next 5 years
Can only do if Uni has an establishment licence
Animal (scientific procedure) Act 1986

Question 2

AWERB

Answer 2

Animal Welfare and ethical review body

Question 3

PAAC1 AND 2

Answer 3

Procedures on animals assessment committee – reviews project license applications before they go to the Home office.

Question 4

3RS COMMITTEE

Answer 4

overseas mid term reviews of grants and promotes good practice, Replace animals
Minimise number of animals use
Minimise suffering

Question 5

BSMB

Answer 5

Biological services management board –
Ensures compliance with law, charges for animals, looking at the current and future estate.

Question 6

DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY

Answer 6

rapidly replaces existing thing

Question 7

Crispr-CAS9 technology

Answer 7

Allows selective alterations to parts of DNA in the genome
Could revolutionise way treat genetics
China- tried to use to stop 2 children being born with HIV

Question 8

OPTOGENTICS

Answer 8

Can place opsins into any cell in brain, shine a blue light and activate it
Using to treat Alzheimer’s or Focal cortical epilepsy
Issue is that to get it into brain it is packaged into Adenoviruses
Don’t know the long term effects of injecting virus into brain

Question 9

BRAIN initiative

Answer 9

USA, $4.5 bill over 10 years
Prioritises ethics

Question 10

human brain project

Answer 10

EU, 1 bill euros
Ethics is prioritised

Question 11

HOW TO DEAL WITH COGNITIVE ENHANCEMENT

Answer 11

equal access to schools
Focus on neurological disorders

Question 12

CONSENT

Answer 12

Clear guidelines, make sure patients have legally authorised representatives who can speak for them

Question 13

LEGAL SYSTEM

Answer 13

Rely too much in courts if take as unequivocally true, and if general public is better educated on workings of the brain

Question 14

AI

Answer 14

humans cant compete

Question 15

DRIVERLESS TECHNOLOGY

Answer 15

MIT moral machine

Question 16

RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE ETHICS ARE ADHERED TO

Answer 16

International- EU
National- Gov, UK research and innovation
Specific body- medical research council
High design standard
Maintain dignity, rights and safety
Transparency and honesty
Keep research open
Russell group Unis
Institutions
Individual: Investigator, research scientist, student

Question 17

7 STANDARDS

Answer 17

Act with skill and care
Prevent corrupt practice and declare conflict of interest
COI
Financial- e.g. if you had shares in company
Professional
Personal
Prejudicial
Respect and acknowledge work of others
Ensure research is justified and lawful
Minimise impacts on people, animals and environment
Discuss issues science raises for society
Do not mislead

Question 18

SCIENTIFIC MALPRACTICE

Answer 18

Fabrication- MMR vaccines to autism study by Andrew Wakefield in 1998
Falsification
Plagiarism
Confidentiality- e.g. lab member leaking all results to competing lab
Failure to acknowledge significant contribution: e.g. Rosalind Franklin large contribution to the structure of DNA, Watson and Crick looked and reports and she never got Nobel prize

Question 19

PRESSURES TO BE BAD

Answer 19

Professional competition: getting paper into top journal can launch career
Retraction up, the better the journal the more times an author has to retract results- pressure of getting it out affecting the quality
Replication down
Commercial pressures
Maximise course fees- labs have incentive to take on lots of students to produce more research
Increase pressure on staff to get external funding
Bias