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Dowling College

NSM 6603 Ethics and Values in Science

Fall 2007 CRN 99740 M 530-730

Dr. Christian Perring, Department of Philosophy

Classroom RC 318

E-mail: perringc@dowling.edu [All email to me should have "NSM663" in the subject line]

Office Phone: 244-3349

Office: 330B RC (next to the computer lab)

Office Hours: M 2:30-5:00PM, T 4:30-5:30PM, W 11:30AM-12:50PM

[Note that this syllabus is closely based on that created by Dr Lori Zaikowski. Note also that this may be revised.]

Course Textbook: Francis Macrina. Scientific Integrity: Text and Cases in Responsible Conduct of Research. Third Edition. ASM Press, 2005

I. Course Description:

Science is often perceived as being an objective and value-free endeavor. However, many issues related to the practice of science and use of technology have ethical implications and are value-laden. An understanding of these issues is critical for all citizens in today's highly technological society. Some of the topics to be discussed include ethical issues related to biotechnology, environmental ethics and justice, research on human and animal subjects, eugenics, the social responsibility of scientists, honesty in obtaining and reporting data, misconduct in science, and the influence of funding sources and competitive pressures on scientists and scientific research.

II. Overview

In this course we will explore and critically evaluate questions such as:

To what extent is science objective and value-free?

How do scientists and non-scientists distinguish between "good" and "bad" science?

To what extent is science influenced by funding sources and by social attitudes toward race, gender and class?

Do scientists and technicians have any special responsibility with regard to the effects of their work on society?

What is scientific integrity, and what are the scientific and social ramifications of fraud and misrepresentations?

What are the ethics and values considerations regarding research? For example, concerning research on human and animal subjects, or the choice of research questions that are asked and funded. The “answers you get depend on the questions you ask.” (Lovins 1991)

We consider a variety of scientific and social problems such as regional and global environmental degradation, concerns about the rapid development of biotechnology, the potential applications of the results of the human genome project, and issues of international conflict. These topics are explored through readings, class discussions, small group considerations of case studies, film, and presentations.

III. Required (1-9) & Recommended (10-13) Readings (1,3,4,6,7,8 provided as pdfs)

1. Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research. 1979. The National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Washington (DC): Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

2. Francis Macrina. Scientific Integrity: Text and Cases in Responsible Conduct of Research. Third Edition. ASM Press, 2005 [Companion website is at http://www.scientificintegrity.net/ ]

3. Fourtner A, Fourtner C, Herreid C. 1994. Bad blood: A case study of the Tuskegee Syphilis Project. Journal of College Science Teaching. March/April. pp. 277-285.

4. Goldfarb TD, Pritchard M. 2000. Ethics in the Science Classroom: An Instructional Guide for Secondary School Science Teachers with Model Lessons for Classroom Use. Center for the Study of Ethics in Society, Western Michigan University. http://www.wmich.edu/ethics/ESC/index.html

5. Ibsen H. adapted by Miller, A. 1979. An Enemy of the People. NY: Penguin Books.

6. NUREMBERG CODE [from Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military

Tribunals under Control Council Law No. 10. Nuremberg, October 1946–April 1949.

Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O, 1949–1953.]

7. University of Minnesota Center for Bioethics. 2003. A Guide to Research Ethics. MN: University of Minnesota.

8. Zigmond MJ, Fischer BA. 2002. Beyond fabrication and plagiarism: The little murders of everyday science. Science and Engineering Ethics 8 (2): 229-234.

The following are available for purchase or to read free online at http://www.nationalacademies.org/

9. National Academy of Sciences, Committee on the Conduct of Science. 1995. On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research. Washington (DC): National Academies Press.

10. National Academy of Sciences, Institute for Laboratory Animal Research. 2004. Science, Medicine, and Animals. Washington (DC): National Academies Press.

11. National Academy of Sciences. 2002. Stem Cells and the Future of Regenerative Medicine. Washington (DC): National Academies Press.

12. National Research Council. 1999. Perspectives on Biodiversity: Valuing Its Role in an Everchanging World. Washington (DC): National Academies Press.

13. National Research Council. 2002. Animal Biotechnology: Science Based Concerns. Washington (DC): National Academies Press.

IV. Potential Topics for Projects: for specific ideas peruse the references and resources.

Genetic engineering, cloning, genetic screening, gene therapy, access to genetic information

Human genome project

Other biotechnological issues

Societal influences on science

The social responsibility of the scientist

Integrity and misconduct in science; corrective mechanisms

Influence of funding sources on scientific research

Competition vs. collaboration in scientific research

The peer review process

Issues of gender and race in science

The Manhattan Project

Technology and imperialism

Effects of war technologies on the environment and societies

Impact of technology on world view

Conflicts of interest

Environmental racism, environmental ethics, or environmental justice

Animal testing

Research on human subjects

Evolution and human equality

Clinical trials and the FDA Approval Process

Compatibility of Evolutionary Theory with Religion

Issues in Global Warming

The Thalidomide Case

Vioxx

V. Requirements

1. Active class participation: attendance, class discussions, small group work (5pts each class)

2. Answers to essay questions and questions posed in the case studies (10 pts each)

3. 4 Projects (50 pts each)

4. Oral presentation (10 pts)

VI. Grading Procedure

All assignments are due on time; absolutely no late assignments will be accepted. If for some reason you are absent from class, you are to post the assignment to the Blackboard Discussion Board on the due date. The points for each assignment are as indicated above. The final grade is obtained by summing the points and taking the percentage of available points.

Each Project must conform to the following format:

1. Title of project

2. Author(s) of the project

3. List which science course(s) and grade level(s) the project is designed for, and how many class periods are required.

4. The kind of teaching activity(ies) employed. For ex: hands-on lab exercise, organized student debate, panel discussion, case study, discussion of ethics issues involved in a science fiction story, etc.)

5. Which one, or more, of the following categories of ethics-related issues best describes the lesson(s): behavior of scientists, behavior of students, specific social issues, research on human or animal subjects, etc.)

6. A listing of the principal ethics/values issues that are raised by the lesson(s).

7. Detailed lesson plan(s), instructions for the teacher, talking points, and materials for the students.

8. A discussion of the appropriate use of the lesson, and the ethics/values issues that the lesson is designed to explore.

9. List the descriptions of the NYS Learning Standards addressed, including those for the core curriculum area for which the lesson is designed. NYS Learning Standards and Core Curricula: http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/ciai/mst/scirg.html

10. Resources and references. Use APA Style: available on Dowling Library website and at http://www.dowling.edu/library/linksd/links.asp?ID=274 A good book for reference is: “Writing Research Papers: A Complete Guide” by James D. Lester.

1l. Post your projects to the appropriate Blackboard Discussion Board before class on the due date.

VI. References and Resources

American Institute of Biological Sciences. 16 Dec. 2004. “Seven Bioscience Challenges.” Action Bioscience. http://www.actionbioscience.org/. Peer-reviewed articles, lesson plans and activities.

Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research. 1979. The National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. Washington (DC): Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

Broad W and Wade N. 1983. Masters and Apprentices (Chapter 8) in Betrayers of Truth. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Chalk R, Frankel MS, Chafer SB. 1980. Professional Ethics Activities in the Scientific and Engineering Societies. Washington (DC): American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Cohen-Almagor R., ed. 2000. Medical Ethics at the Dawn of the 21^st Century. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Vol. 913. September.

DuMez E. 2000. The role and activities of scientific societies in promoting research integrity. Professional Ethics Report 13 (3) Washington (DC): American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Fletcher H. 1982. My Work with Millikan on the Oil-Drop Experiment. Physics Today, June: 43-47.

Fourtner A, Fourtner C, Herreid C. 1994. Bad blood: A case study of the Tuskegee Syphilis Project. Journal of College Science Teaching. March/April. pp. 277-285.

Fukuyama F. 2002. Our post human future: consequences of the biotechnology revolution. New York: Farrar Straus and Giroux.

Garrett JM, Bird SJ. 2000. Ethical issues in communicating science. Sci. and Eng. Ethics. 6: 435-442.

Gilbert SF. 2000. Developmental Biology. 7^th ed. Sunderland MA: Sinaur Associates. (20 December 2004; http://www.devbio.com/.)

Gilbert SF, Fausto-Sterling A. 2003. Educating for social responsibility: changing the syllabus of developmental biology. Int. J. Dev. Biol. 47: 237-244.

Goldfarb TD. 1996. Ethics and values in the secondary science classroom. Professional Ethics Report IX:1. American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Goldfarb TD, Pritchard M. 2000. Ethics in the Science Classroom. Center for the Study of Ethics in Society. (18 Dec 2004; www.wmich.edu/ethics/resources.htm)

Grossman DC and Valtin H., eds. 1999. Great Issues for Medicine in the 21^st Century: Ethical and Social Issues Arising out of Advances in the Biomedical Sciences. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Vol. 882. June.

Jasanoff S. 1999. Knowledge elites and class war. Nature 40: 531.

Jennings B. 1991. New Choices, New Responsibilities. Ethical Issues in the Life Sciences: A Teaching Resource on Bioethics for High School Biology Courses. New York: Hastings Center.

Jennings B, Kahn J, Mastroianni A, Parker L, eds. 2003. Ethics and Public Health: Model Curriculum. Association of Schools of Public Health.

Johansen CK, Harris DE. 2000. Teaching the ethics of biology. The American Biology Teacher 62 (5): 352-358.

Levine C, ed. 2004. 10^th ed. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Bioeethical Issues. Guilford, CT: Dushkin.

Lovins A. 1991. Technology is the Answer (But What was the Question?) published as a guest essay, pp. 56-57, in G. Tyler Miller, Environmental Science 3^rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Lundmark C. 2002. Improving the science curriculum with bioethics. BioScience 52 (10): 881.

Marocco DA. 2000. Biology for the 21^st century: The search for a core. The American Biology Teacher 62 (8): 565-569.

McGibben B. 2003. Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age. New York: Times Books.

McInerney JD. 1995. The Human Genome Project and Biology Education. BioScience 45 (11):786-791.

National Academy of Sciences, Committee on the Conduct of Science. 1995. On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research. Washington (DC): National Academies Press.

National Geographic. 2004. Global Warming (special issue). September.

National Research Council. 1996. the Arctic Aeromedical Laboratory’s Thyroid Function Study: A Radiological Risk and Ethical Analysis. Committee on Evaluation of 1950’s Air Force Human Health Testing in Alaska Using Iodine-131. Washington (DC): National Academies Press. Available to read free online at http://www.nationalacademies.org/

National Research Council. 1996. National Science Education Standards. Washington (DC): National Academies Press.

National Research Council/Institute of Medicine, Committee on Assessing Integrity in Research Environments. 2002. Integrity in Scientific Research: Creating an Environment That Promotes Responsible Conduct. Washington (DC): National Academies Press.

New York Academy of Sciences. 1983. The Role of Animals in Biomedical Research. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Vol. 406. January.

New York Academy of Sciences. 1989. Ethical Issues Associated with Scientific and Technological Research for the Military. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Vol. 577. January.

New York Academy of Sciences. 1992. The Microbiologist and Biological Defense Research: Ethics, Politics and International Security. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Vol. 666. December.

Norton BG. 1987. Why Preserve Natural Variety? Studies in Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy. NJ: Princeton University Press.

NUREMBERG CODE [from Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military

Tribunals under Control Council Law No. 10. Nuremberg, October 1946–April 1949.

Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O, 1949–1953.]

Post SG, ed. 1999. Bioethics for students: How do we know what’s right? Issues in medicine, animal rights, and the environment. New York: Macmillan Reference USA. (Four volume set groups issues by topics such as Ethics and Law, Genetics, and Sex and Gender.)

Post SG, ed. 2004. Encyclopedia of Bioethics. 2^nd ed. New York: Macmillan Reference USA. (Five volume set focuses on issues in depth. A history of the issue is presented, and each entry includes a bibliography for further study. Codes, oaths, and directives related to bioethics are included in an appendix.)

Rudolph FB, McIntire LV, eds. 1996. Biotechnology: Science, Engineering, and Ethical Challenges for the 21^st Century. Joseph Henry Press. Read free online at www.nationalacademies.org

Shapiro DA. 1999. Choosing the Right Thing To Do. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Singer P. 2000. Writings on an Ethical Life. New York: Ecco Press. (Moral status of animals, abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia.)

Skegg PDG. 1984. Law, Ethics, and Medicine: Studies in Medical Law. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Medical laws and legislation, informed consent.

University of Minnesota Center for Bioethics. 2003. A Guide to Research Ethics. MN: University of Minnesota.

Wade N. 1975. Discovery of Pulsars: A Graduate Student's Story. Science 189: 358-363.

White FD. 1989. Science and the Human Spirit: Contexts for Writing and Learning. CA: Wadsworth.

Zaikowski L and Garrett J. 2004. A three-tiered approach to enhance undergraduate education in bioethics. BioScience 10: 942-949.

Zigmond MJ, Fischer BA. 2002. Beyond fabrication and plagiarism: The little murders of everyday science. Science and Engineering Ethics 8 (2): 229-234.

Science and ethics Video. Q180.55.M67 S35 1995 (Available in Dowling Library)

NIH Bioethics Resources on the Web: http://bioethics.od.nih.gov/

Research Ethics: Bioethics in Medicine: http://depts.washington.edu/bioethx/topics/resrch.html

Schedule

Date	Topic of Class Discussion	Reading/Writing Assignment
Sept 10	The Practice of Science. Science, Technology, Ethics and Values. “Dr. Jana” case (on Blackboard)	http://www.onlineethics.org/CMS/edu/precol/precolclass/sectone/cs1.aspx Darsee C.S. #1 (B) (See http://www.as.pitt.edu/undergraduate/offices/oelsp/ethics-forum.html ) Millikan C.S. #2 (C, P) (See http://www.wmich.edu/ethics/ESC/cs2.html )
Sept 17	Scientific Integrity, Misconduct: Honesty in obtaining and reporting data, fraud, plagiarism, theft of ideas, misrepresentation of data, whistle blowing.	Scientific Integrity Chapters 1 & 2. Student Exercise 1. p 321 (10) Project topics due
Sept 24	The Role of Competition, Sharing of Scientific Data and Information, and the Assigning Credit for Scientific Discoveries Documentary: Nova: Secret of Photo 51 Companion website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/photo51/ Race for the Double Helix http://www.wmich.edu/ethics/ESC/lesson19.html Lesson 19	Scientific Integrity Chapters 3 & 4. Discuss a total of 4 cases from Chs 3 & 4. (10 each)
Oct 1	Research on Human Subjects DVD: In the Shadow of the Reich: Nazi Medicine, directed by John Michalczyk. The Tuskegee Case Study http://www.wmich.edu/ethics/ESC/cs3.html Stanley Milgram Experiment http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8615820508768571015 NCI: Human Participant Protections Education for Research Teams http://cme.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/learning/humanparticipant-protections.asp HHS Protection of Human Subjects http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/45cfr46.htm	Scientific Integrity Ch 5. Discuss 2 cases from Ch 5 (10 each)
Oct 8 Pr. 1 due	Miss Evers Boys DVD	Nuremberg Code and the Belmont Report (Available on Blackboard)
Oct 15	Research on Human Subjects: Informed Consent, Social Value and Consequences, Access to Information & Right to Privacy, Nature vs Nurture Case Study: The XYY Controversy (http://www.wmich.edu/ethics/ESC/cs5.html )	Discuss 2 more cases from Ch 5 (10 each)
Oct 22	Animal Rights/Experimentation Project X Gorillas in the Mist APA Guidelines for Ethical Conduct in the Care and Use of Animals http://www.apa.org/science/anguide.html SJ Bird: The Ethics Of Using Animals in Research http://www.onlineethics.org/CMS/research/modindex/animalres.aspx	Scientific Integrity Ch 6 Discuss 3 cases from Ch 6 (10 each)
Oct 29	Competing Interests	Scientific Integrity Ch 7 Exercise 3: Conflict of Conscience p. 325 (30)
Nov 5	Collaborative Research	Scientific Integrity Ch 8
Nov 12 Pr. 2 due	Ownership of Data and Intellectual Property	Scientific Integrity Ch 9
Nov 19	Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering GATTACA Nova: Monsanto, 2001: Harvest of Fear	Scientific Integrity Ch 10 “The Winnowing” by Isaac Asimov “Letter to Ellen” by Chan Davis, 1947 Exercise 2: Sharing of Research Materials p. 323 (30)
Nov 26	The Genome Project: The Technology, Ethical, Legal and Social Issues Human Genome Project Structured Controversy Discussion of readings	DOE genome website HGP: Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues Genetics at Bioethics.net National Human Genome Research Institute: Policy & Ethics Discuss 3 cases from Ch 10 (10 each)
Dec 3 Pr. 3 due	Presentations & Mini-Classes
Dec 10 Pr. 4 due	Presentations & Mini-Classes