1.7. Ethics in Science http://www.ck12.org
1.7 Ethics in Science
- Define ethics.
- Identify ethical rules in science.
- Describe how scientific knowledge might influence everyday ethical decisions.
Believe it or not, the tree bark in this photo contains a revolutionary anti-cancer drug. For almost a decade after the
drug was discovered, the trees, called Pacific yews, were stripped of their bark so chemists could extract the drug for
cancer patients. Stripping the bark harmed the trees. This situation posed an ethical problem.
What Is Ethics?
Ethicsrefers to deciding what’s right and what’s wrong. Making ethical decisions involves weighing right and
wrong in order to make the best choice. The ethical problem of the Pacific yew has both right and wrong aspects.
It’s right to save lives with the cancer drug that comes from the tree bark, but it’s wrong to endanger the tree and risk
its extinction.
Q:What do you think is the most ethical decision about the Pacific yew? Should the bark be used to make the drug
and possibly save human lives? Or should this be prohibited in order to protect the tree from possible extinction?
A:This is tough ethical dilemma, and there is no right or wrong answer. Ethical dilemmas such as this often
spur scientists to come up with new solutions to problems. That’s what happened in the case of the Pacific yew.
Scientists tackled and solved the problem of determining the chemical structure of the anti-cancer drug so it could
be synthesized in labs. This is a win-win solution to the problem. The synthetic drug is now available to save lives,
and the trees are no longer endangered by being stripped of their bark.