Reflections on Research Ethics
Introduction
Research Project: Exploring the impact of maternal obesity on placental cells’ transcriptional program and offspring health.
Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate the disruptions caused by maternal obesity to placental tissue and to determine whether these disruptions can affect the metabolic status of the offspring.
Methods: The research employs single nuclei sequencing using human term placental tissues, and omics from organoids established from human placental tissues.
Human Subjects: The study involves obese and healthy mothers from Chile, and Swedish healthy mothers as sources of organoids.
Ethical Aspects:
- Is this research project morally justifiable?
This research project is justifiable based on the common morality and four principles . Its purpose is to benefit human well-being, particularly in reproductive health, without causing harm to others. The research team is collecting information from usual medical examinations and surgeries, and the tissue samples are typically discarded if not collected for research purposes. We do collect sensitive information regarding participants’ names, medical history, address, contact, economical class, and we want more information from their blood tests.
Therefore, we have taken measures to protect the privacy rights of the participants by obtaining informed consent and establishing ethical agreements. The participants are women from Chile and Sweden, and they are free to withdraw from the study at any time, and the research team has no intention of profiting from the research. The first benefit party is just the research group to have research output, but not in a profitable way. - Are there any ethical problems within this research project, and how can they be reduced?
The research project raises issues concerning justice. Although the researchers did not intentionally bias any group in recruiting participants, the fact remains that the women who go to the hospitals they collaborated with are generally from lower economic classes. In addition, the willingness to participate in this type of research may be influenced by factors such as values, religion, educational and cultural background, and political class. While humans are inherently unequal, ethical principles and guidelines and practical measures such as informed consent can minimize any potential coercion.
To address concerns about justice, the researchers could sample from a wider range of hospitals and provide more detailed information about the study design and potential risks to potential participants. Additionally, to reduce the risk of privacy violations, the researchers should store sensitive information in secure locations and limit access to authorized personnel. - Is investing in the research project the right priority, or would it be better to put resources into something else? This question pertains to the importance of the scientific question and the efficiency and sufficiency of the methods used to answer it. The question at hand concerns the lack of knowledge about natural and healthy pregnancy, which is undoubtedly an important issue. However, the use of bioinformatics and sequencing to collect vast amounts of information may not always provide the best means of addressing critical questions. Therefore, adding embryo information to examine the supportive role and interplay between placenta and embryo development, even if not from transcriptomics, could offer valuable insights. However, such an approach may raise additional ethical issues.
- Regarding in vitro embryonic culture I personally see a future for synthesized or in vitro full-stage human embryos, and our lab is culturing human embryonic derived stem cells and the one part of my research is also to use human tissue derived pluripotent stem cells to develop organoids to validate the findings. Since ISSCR removed the hard limitation of 14-day rules, the ethical and legal (especially the legal formulas) implications of such research must be scrutinized . These include questions about the potential risks of experiments, the benefits of these experiments, the availability of alternative less risky methods, and the formulation of legal terms regarding the identity and rights of cultured embryos. While sometimes the scientific rationale for such research is valid, to get more relevant information about human embryonic development, to validate results from another animal model or in vitro model, the risks of long-term embryo culture include potential harm to these living creatures and the potential for dual use if storage or distribution is leaked.
- Other personal thoughts
In terms of ethical aspects, we discussed in the class, I am not sure if we discuss with an indifferent view as more like nature (almighty, ultimate will or truth), or only to the interest of human beings. Personally, my views and the cognitive behaviors have evolved from one extreme to another. But in the end in more public context, we should all abide to the consensus and principles as stated in the course. Except for ethics, we could also consider pragmatically, whether the research methods and results will harm stability and sustainability of the society and ecosystem. When developing new techniques or push forward new scientific knowledges, we could consider whether we could practically utilize them, how to safely practice those techniques, creation, and trials, and how to regularize and conform the community when that technique is practical.
Final Words
In the end, let me quote the words of Lost Illusion: “for when he analyzed the society of to-day, his restless mind was apt to take its stand on the lower ground of those diplomatists who hold that success justifies the use of any means however base. It is one of the misfortunes attendants upon great intellects that perforce they comprehend all things, both good and evil”.
Thanks to this course, we got educated in legislation, good and evil regarding biomedical research, we tried to comprehend good and evil with the guidance and our society sees a prospect that people will relentlessly discuss research ethics. Hopefully we have some understanding and the theoretical back up to face this ever-changing society.
