ethics, science and society industry-academy course project erik j ryman, renee kroon, richard...
TRANSCRIPT
Ethics, Science and Society
Industry-Academy Course Project
Erik J Ryman, Renee Kroon, Richard Hedman, Jacobo Antona,
More than ONE MILLION people die worldwide from traffic accidents every year (*)
About 50% caused by head injuries (**)
Accidents at work, sports, assaults, and war conflicts add several MILLIONS of cases of head
injuries and permanent physical impairment
(*) World Health Organization (WHO)(**) US Cooper 1993 and Kallieris 1997, UK Jennet 1996, Europe Deck 2008, Japan ITARDA 2007
Injury mechanisms have not been clarified yet
Brain Injury mechanisms are extremely complicated
Injury biological mechanisms can only be clarified with LIVING SUBJECTS
FOUR POSSIBILE METHODS
1. Experiments with Humans2. Experiments with Non-human Primates3. Experiments with Non-primate animals4. Doing nothing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stapp
Stapp at 667Km/h in one of his experiments
March 1954
http://www.stapp.org/stapp.shtml
Colonel John Paul Stapp, M.D., Ph.D.
Method 1: Experiments with Humans
Stapp at the age of 89Hero Stapp
METHOD NOT
ACCEPTED IN CURRENT
SOCIETY
Gennarelli 1982
Ono 1980
Ommaya 1984Kikuchi 1982
Method 2: Experiments with Non-human Primates
Pudenz 1946METHOD NOT
ACCEPTED IN CURRENT
SOCIETY
Davidsson et al. 2009
Miller et al. 2000 Anderson et al. 2000, 2003
Gutierrez et al. 2001
3. Experiments with Non-human Primates
METHOD ACCEPTED
4. Doing nothing
METHOD ACCEPTED
Dangers of industry funding
• Contracts signing rights of stopping publication• University siding with company in cases of
dispute• Increased risk of biasing• Steer funding away from ”non-useful” science• Taking time away from research for consultancy
tasks• Decreased trustworthiness
Advantages of industry funding
• More funding for University• Access to resources otherwise unavailable• Results comming to use
Solutions
• Avoid single company dominance• Negotiations through official channels
WHAT WOULD THE INDUSTRY GET IF WE CLARIFY INJURY MECHANISMS?
Automotive industry → Safer cars
Goods → Better helmets and safety devices for sports and work
Medicine → Treatment of head injuries
Military → Safer equipments
WHERE IS THE CONFLICT?
Industry need answers but don’t want to be directly related with the usage of animals
For this, they rely on Universities and public institutions
Indirect funding?
QUESTIONS:
Where is the limit?
How many animals worth one human life?