Bioethicists have not spent a lot of time mulling the moral implications of basic science research. The solitary researcher in the basic sciences has not been considering the ethical implications of studying cultures growing in petri dishes.
But with stem cell, cloning, and genome research becoming more prevalent, that dynamic is starting to change.
"When somebody is doing something around hot-button topics, there will be ethical concerns," said Howard Brody, MD, a director of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH).
Brody, who is a professor of family medicine at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in East Lansing and a former director and current professor in the school's Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences, said that while ethics is discussed as it pertains to clinical research, there is a need for such discussion in basic science research, because both are increasingly intertwined.
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