Science and Ethnics Flashcards
“a man without ethnics is a wild beast loosed upon this world”
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Should be regulated to prevent companies from monopolising
-Monsanto: MNC, main aim is for profits
Seeds designed to be only planted once
- GlaxoSmithKline – monopolising distribution of Aids medicine
BAD: Since 1980s, the fruits of scientific research were no longer viewed as a public good but as a commodity that could be monetised
S.KOrean student Hwang Woo Suk – faked stem cell research; he said he was”blinded by work and drive for achievement”
Protect animal and human rights
For practical and safety reasons, there should not be regulations to disallow clinical trials (relying solely on animal research is unsafe)
India: 438 deaths in 2011 alone due to testing on the lower caste (data was not released by GlaxoSmithKline)
By accepting corporate funding – accepting the strings attached to corporate agenda
- corporate sponsors will control the way study is conducted
- suppress fundings
- pay scientists to sign off as ‘authors’
Example:
“Big tobacco” funded researchers to dispose link between smoking and lung cancer
Public funding has become insufficient to support current scale/scope of R&D – joint ventures between public and private is essential
The balance between public and private spending on R%D has tipped dramatically towards the latter over the past 20 years
e.g SG’s Biopolis at one-north - constructed at an initial cost of SG$500 million by JTC corporations
in 1965, US – 65% govt
by 2006 – 65% became private funding
Profits - will give firms the incentive to conduct R&D
- Project Loon, developed by Google X with the mission of providing Internet access to rural and remote areas
Science in itself is hindered by ethics
Inquisitive, creative mind hindered if need to keep thinking about moral issues
Ethical values are ambiguous – not a v clear line between what is right and wrong
People will make their judgements based on their own life experiences etc.
