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Asked by erikajas to Dean, Jess, Luisa on 25 Jun 2010 in Categories: Scientist.
Question: Why do you think some scientists do they're best just to complete their research while they harm the environment and animals?
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Dean Whittaker answered on 24 Jun 2010:
I’m not sure that is true. Harming animals is sometimes (unfortunately) necessary. Everything is done to prevent it. My college uses nano tweezers to look at cells and he has to sign loads of forms to allow him just to take some cells from his own skin to look at! If he wanted to use an animal it would have to go before some ethics comittee etc…
As for the environment. We have many very annoying (but necessary) things we have to do with our chemicals to stop them getting into the environment and harming it. We dispose of everything properly. Always. Even if it means we have 2 hours of experiment time left and we can’t get things ready in time.
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Luisa Ostertag answered on 25 Jun 2010:
It’s always hard to justify research if you look at it like this. Just by using lots of plastic consumables every day I am producing loads of waste just because I am doing my research!
In the end it is important to weigh the benefits against the bad things and I guess if somebody finds a solution for global warming, a cure for some cancer, or a new plant breed that might ensure that we will still have enough food in the future than these benefits for mankind weigh out all the rubbish they produce and all animal testing too.
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Jessica Housden answered on 25 Jun 2010:
All research in this country (and most others) is regulated – so people can’t be paid to just do whatever they like. However, research often yields many different results which can be used in different ways (think nuclear research for example – lots and lots of wonderful uses for that including helping diagnose sick people and stopping cancer). I think that all scientists will want what they’re doing to be used, or contribute to better understanding of something.
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