The ethical implications of scientific research they are related to those actions that directly and controversially affect both human beings and nature.
All professional practice is permeated by an ethical code, and scientific research is no exception. Scientific research is observed even more by external agents because its objectives are mainly to provide new benefits and optimize the quality of life of society.
Apart from the scientific rigor that must be present in all research, variety of branches of science they have been confronted with scenarios and situations susceptible to generate ethical and moral questioning.
The implementation of new technologies has also required that investigations must put to the test certain methods that could hurt the susceptibility of public opinion.
When it comes to the ethical questions of research, those related to the bioethics , which manifests itself in the manipulation of life, human or animal, in scientific research.
7 main ethical implications of scientific research
Right of participation in the investigation
Any person interested in being part of an investigation as subject of evidence is fully entitled to accept or decline their participation before the beginning of such investigation.
No subject should be forced by the institution to be part of an investigation, especially if it has the purpose of intervening in their health.
Likewise, you should be allowed to withdraw from the project at any time that the subject considers necessary, without the possibility of physical or psychological reprisals on the part of those in charge of the investigation.
Information about the investigation
All voluntary participants must be duly informed of the implications, objectives and scope of the investigation in which they will be involved, and for no reason should be subjected to this blindness of what may occur.
This information also includes the risks to which it will be subjected and the purposes -commercial or not- that its results may have.
Added to this, you must guarantee access to information on the results of the investigation and not incur at any time in formal secrecy.
Guarantee of identity and anonymity
Any participant who has provided their information for voluntary participation in an investigation must have guarantees that this will not be used for purposes unrelated to the research itself.
You must be assured that your identity will remain anonymous in all stages of scientific research.
Special considerations about research participants
Researchers must take into account special conditions or disabilities (physical or mental) that some participants may have.
In no way should an investigation subject subjects to conditions beyond their natural abilities.
Similarly, if the research requires obtaining data from outside the organization and the participants, the researchers must be responsible for accessing and using this information, as well as the use that is intended to be given within the project.
On animal experimentation
Experimentation with animals has been one of the most discussed topics when discussing the ethics of scientific research.
Implicitly, a bias is created that attributes moral charges to the animals that will be subject to experimentation, especially by organizations external to the research itself.
This has been one of the most controversial aspects of public opinion, much more than human experimentation itself. This is so because of the ability of humans to make the rational decision to participate or not in different projects, a capacity that animals do not have.
However, there are many formal conclusions that say that animals, due to their inability to rationalize their present and future, should not be subject to these moral attributions.
The fight has been so strong that at the moment it is looked for that the suffering of the animals during a scientific investigation is minimum, insofar as it can not be null.
For science, experimentation with animals has been considered necessary because it is the transition stage towards human testing.
If each new initiative is tested directly on humans, the negative results could be much greater, confronting the organizations to new ethical questions on the part of the public.
Principles of replacement, reduction and refinement in research
This initiative of three"R"addresses above all the experimentation on animals, giving continuity to the aforementioned.
The replacement consists in the substitution of animals by computer-related relative models, which allow an approximation to a result similar to that which would be obtained from the animal.
In the worst case, it is proposed to replace animals with species with less susceptibility to pain. Reduce refers to decreasing the amount of animals used for each stage of research in a given project.
Finally, refinement is the search and use of new techniques that minimize the anguish and the pain of the animals that are the object of research, providing welfare levels that can be considered adequate.
Strengthening respect for life
Any research project that manipulates human or animal lives as part of its experimentation stages can create a certain insensitivity for the well-being and life of beings.
That is why bioethics seeks that in these same environments, respect for all kinds of life is reinforced and awareness of their susceptibilities inside and outside the laboratory is reinforced.
In this way, scientific projects can have a much freer way to continue developing scientifically, and above all, legal. This way, it will be able to fulfill its objectives in front of the civil society, its main recipient.
References
- Arellano, J. S., Hall, R. T., & Arriaga, J. H. (2014). Ethics of scientific research. Querétaro: Autonomous University of Querétaro.
- World Medical Association. (1964). DECLARATION OF HELSINKI OF THE AMM - ETHICAL PRINCIPLES FOR MEDICAL INVESTIGATIONS IN HUMAN BEINGS. Helsinki: AMM.
- GE, E.-C., & JP., P.-H. (2016). The ethical and bioethical implications in scientific research. Veterinary Medicine , 115-118.
- Moyaa, F. B., Buenoa, S. D., & Hernándeza, S. B. (2018). Ethical and legal implications of biomedical research. Clinical Medicine , 87-90.
- Ojeda de López, J., Quintero, J., & Machado, I. (2007). Ethics in research. Telos 345-357.