When science is just another good cause

摘要

Some years ago the Nobel laureate Joshua Lederberg remarked to me that "those who do not support medical research will have the blood of those who die on their hands". I was left wondering if he was right about that. Is a legislator or member of parliament who supports an increased education budget at the expense of medical research to be held responsible for avoidable deaths? I puzzled over that question. I was reminded of this when debates began breaking out in the 1990s on a variety of research problems. Critics of strict regulation of research involving human subjects complained that it was stifling life-saving investigation. The pharmaceutical industry defended its high prices on the grounds that it had a moral obligation to do the expensive research that would cure disease and relieve suffering. Supporters of embryonic stem cell research said that there was an ethical duty to pursue a line of study that could eventually save thousands, even millions, of lives.