This edition of Research Ethics Roundup covers study authors failing to disclose conflict of interest, ethics of COVID-19 human challenge trials, a Moderna trial volunteer objecting to their business practices, and the upcoming vote on the Swiss animal testing ban Read more
This week's Research Ethics Roundup covers Zika research participants and the lack of follow-up from the researchers, the Henrietta Lacks estate suing over profits on the HeLa cell line, sex bias in neuroscience research, human challenge trials in Britain, and the lack of research on pregnant people. Read more
Human challenge trials, which deliberately infect subjects with diseases, are sometimes ethically controversial. This piece, originally posted in Undark, reports on the experiences of participants in previous challenge trials, such as for hookworm and malaria. Read more
The current pandemic, like all public health crises, forces us to confront difficult questions about how best to find cures or treatments for a disease that is rapidly taking many lives. Although some may argue that the extreme nature of our current circumstances requires throwing out our prior ethical assumptions, we could not disagree more. Adhering to long-established and widely accepted principles of human research ethics must remain an essential component of our efforts to combat COVID-19. Read more
Studies that deliberately infect people with diseases are on the rise. They promise speedier vaccine development, but there’s a need to shore up informed consent. Read more
