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Commentary
Science is a powerful force for change in modern society. As the professionals at its helm,
scientists have a unique responsibility to shepherd that change with thoughtful advocacy
of their research and careful ethical scrutiny of their own behavior.
All good science is subversive. Im Not Trained in Ethics at the heart of my scientific pur-
It challenges beliefs, pushes the Ethics as an academic field has an suits? How do I advance the cause
boundaries of existing structures of established body of knowledge, a of scientific progress? Whom does
knowledge, and portends a future set of disciplinary concepts, a canon, my research serve? Serious consid-
different from the current one. For and many other trappings of an intel- eration of those questions qualifies
that reason, the Controllers, who lectual discipline. Most scientists are a scientist for participation in the
rule Aldous Huxleys Brave New not formally trained in ethics. How- ongoing discussion of scientific val-
World, forbade new scientific inquiry, ever, scholars trained in ethics do ues, even without a specialized train-
declaring truths a menace, science work with scientists and scientific ing in ethics.
is a public danger. societies helping to set guidelines,
The public, whose taxes fund assess the impact of new technolo- My Scientific Work Has Little to
much scientific work, is keenly gies, and so on. Do with Ethics
interested in where science is going Scientists can learn the ethos of What does the daily work of science
and the integrity of those who are science by example. Albert Einstein have to do with ethics? The ethical
taking us there. The unprecedented once said Most people say that it norms of science are so embedded in
ability of scientists to manipulate is the intellect which makes a great scientific work that we can easily take
the building blocks of life, to cre- scientist. They are wrong: it is char- them for granted. When asked why he
ate altered biological processes, acter. Behaving ethically is the prin- made his stem cell lines freely avail-
and to understand and re-engi- cipal way that mentors transfer the able to other scientists, Harvards
neer biological systems promises ethical standards of their profession Douglas Melton replied, because
fundamental changes in how we to their trainees. All the formal ethics theres a long scientific tradition of
heal, how we reproduce, and how training in the world cannot compen- making the fruits of ones research
we relate to the living world. Sci- sate for an unethical mentor. How- available to others (Dreifus, 2006).
ence tends to be portrayed by the ever, the failure to integrate training Making reagents freely available to
media in extremes, as a series of in professional ethics into the basic colleagues is a fundamental ethical
sensationalized discoveries punc- scientific curriculum impoverishes tenet of modern science. The work of
tuated by conflicts and scandals. the educational mission and, ulti- historians, philosophers, social scien-
It is certainly understandable that mately, science itself. tists, and others shows that the ques-
the public would demand care- The National Institutes of Health tions scientists choose to pursue,
ful examination of such powerful (NIH) now requires that an ethics the kinds of data that are considered
technologies. curriculum discussing protection of important, the dynamics of collabora-
Scientists, however, are often human participants in research be tion within a scientific team, the inter-
wary of ethical scrutiny, and gener- taught in the graduate programs it pretation of results, and many other
ally reluctant to engage the public in funds. It would be a shame, however, aspects of scientific work are perme-
moral conversation about their work. if training in ethics stopped there. To ated by ethical assumptions, such
Why arent scientists more engaged remain true to the highest goals of as the value of sharing the products
in the ethical debates that character- science, scientists should periodi- of scientific inquiry, and the value of
ize the public discourse about sci- cally revisit the big questions: What mentorship. Science is an eminently
ence? Why are scientists not more is science for? What are the values I social activity.
effective advocates of their own bring to my scientific work? Why did What distinguishes a profession
work? There are a number of reasons I become a scientist, and why am I is not only a body of knowledge or
that scientists offer, and each is wor- one now? What are the moral moti- expertise. Professional authority is
thy of examination. vations, inclinations, and principles derived also from a cultural tradition