Science - Code of Conduct?: Supplement

The Need for a Science Code of Conduct?

Supplementary Materials

These evolving materials are provided to encourage continuing and new thought about science and its role in culture and, in particular, about the possible need of both scientists and others to clarify the ethical responsibilities inherent in scientific research. See If you have any comments or find an article that you would like me to post, add it to the forum area below! 

Had I stood firm the scientists could have developed something like the doctor's Hippocratic Oath, a vow to use their knowledge exclusively for mankind's benefit. As things are, the best that can be hoped for is a race of inventive dwarfs who can be hired for any purpose .... Bertold Brecht, Galileo, Scene 14

What's in the News?

Grant System Leads Cancer Researchers to Play It Safe - NYTimes, 27 June 2009

With only so much money available to fund the thousands of researchers who ask for money each year, the scientific community must decide where its priorities lie. This article explores problems with the grant system today, explaining how it has become biased towards "safe" research.

Q: Is it better to invest in research based on small projects that are more likely to get results? Or should the money go into projects which are riskier, but have more potential to break new ground?

Medical Papers by Ghostwriters Pushed Therapy- NYTimes, 4 August 2009

Q: Is it the Journal's responsability to make conflicts of interest of the Author known? To verify the author? Is there a better way? 

Survey Shows Gap Between Scientists and the Public- NYTimes 9 July 2009

Q: How should scientists go about connecting to and educating the non-scientific community on a more meaningful level?

Are Germ-Killing Soaps Affecting Dolphin Development?- Scientific American 11 August 2009

Testing wild predators for chemicals is an indicator of how much of the chemical is building up in the environment. New studies on dolphins, a top level marine predator, indicate that triclosan is building up at an alarming rate. This chemical, found in anti-bacterial soaps and detergents world-wide, is building up to a level which may soon start to interfere with hormonal signals in the ocean's wildlife. The EPA has re-evaluated it and has declared it fit for continued use, but has put new regulations on companies making triclosan-containing products.

Q: How do we reconcile mankind's use of unnatural products in our day to day lives with the fact that it could be interfering with natural processes? How should we address the issue of keeping chemicals out of the oceans? Triclosan is only one of many chemicals found at high levels in dolphins and other high level predators. Is this problem unavoidable, or is there a way to clean up our act?

The Gene Hunt: Should Finders be Keepers?- Scientific American 11 August 2009

Since the 1990s, Myriad Genetics has owned the rights to the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, associated with breast and ovarian cancers. Over 150,000 researchers and scientists have gotten together to sue Myriad Genetics and the and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), claiming that not allowing anyone to work with the gene is putting the lives of affected women at risk. Currently about 1/5 of our genes are owned by private parties. Myriad argues that the patents are necessary, because they wouldn't be able to fund their research or get investors if they never thought they were going to get any return on their investments, and then advancement would come to a halt.

Q: Where do we draw the line between "product of man and product of nature"? Do companies have the right to own parts of our genetic code? And if not, how do the companies pacify their investors?

Smuggling Europe's Waste to Poorer Countries - NYTimes 26 September 2009

In many parts of Europe and even parts of the United States, law have been passed to mandate recycling, especially of electronics. However, in these same places, turning your recycling into the legal channels of disposal is about 4 times more expensive than packing it onto a boat and shipping it illegally overseas (china, africa, indonesia, etc...).

Q: Can the companies expected to recylce their electronics be expected to shoulder such high prices for a mandatory government practice? Is there a better way to enforce the mandatory recycling?

Scientist Finds the Beginnings of Morality in Primate Behavior - NYTimes 20 March 2007

Studies of apes have shown that primate societies are capable of some of the building blocks of human morality. For example, "Given the chance to get food by pulling a chain that would also deliver an electric shock to a companion, rhesus monkeys will starve themselves for several days". 

Q: Is morality strictly a social construct of humans? Or is there a biological explanation of "right and wrong"?

 Editing Scientists: Science and Policy in the White House - Scientific American 22 October 2009

A brief history of recent activity in the Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ), pointing out that sometimes the science being provided for policy makers will be altered in order to get a desired outcome. 

Q: If a politician's advisors are telling them that something is okay, can they be held accountable for not being fully informed? If our policy makers aren't informed, what is there the general public do?