When researchers at Yale University announced a few years ago that they had successfully restored circulation and certain cellular functions in pig brains hours after death, the tabloid press immediately seized on the story. The papers created a sensationalist narrative around the discovery, with headlines such as: “Scientists breathe life into dead pigs in bizarre […]
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According to EIGE’s gender equality index 2025, it will take more than 50 years to reach full equality in the European Union at the current pace of change. The research sector is included in this data and Elsevier’s report on gender and diversity in research sends a clear message: gender inequality in academia is a […]
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Health data holds great value for research and development, even long after it was originally collected. It can shed light on questions beyond those that initially motivated the collection. Therefore, data infrastructures are being established to store health data for long periods of time. Biobanks and registries keep samples and data available for researchers who […]
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When we talk about norms, we often overlook a higher norm in human interaction. I am thinking of the norm of having knowledge, the demand to know. Why do I say that knowledge is a higher norm? Because norms presuppose our knowledge of them. If we did not know which norms apply, they would lie […]
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Just over two years ago, I experienced what a healthcare procurement process can mean in practice. At the time, I was working for a company in the field of orthotics and prosthetics, and when the procurement contract was lost, the conditions for our business changed from one day to the next. The experience led me […]
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During the 20th century, it was often considered scientifically suspect to talk about consciousness or to use psychological concepts that were not defined in terms of observable behavior. For even longer periods, consciousness, or the soul, was attributed only to some humans who in turn guarded the concept very carefully so that it did not […]
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In the field of childhood cancer, care and research are closely linked. Children treated for cancer are often involved as participants in studies that can contribute to better future cancer care. It is the parents who are asked to give their consent to the child’s participation in research, but the child’s assent is also a […]
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Patient autonomy is a fundamental principle in healthcare and medical ethics. Patients have the right to be informed about what it means to undergo a proposed treatment (as well as what it means to refrain from it) and then say yes or no to the treatment. They also have the right to decide for themselves […]
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There is something misleading about the image of knowledge gaps. We imagine the gaps as voids that could easily be filled with knowledge. The challenge is often, on the contrary, to deal with the stubborn beliefs and attitudes that the knowledge gaps are already filled with. If our knowledge gaps were as empty as those […]
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Academic work is conducted in many ways and has many functions and values. Researchers in law and astrophysics, in philosophy and oceanography, work every day with completely different tasks and methods, and the value of their contributions can hardly be compared. At the same time, academic diversity is challenged by another diversity: the many needs […]
Continue readingTHE ETHICS BLOG
A research blog from the Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB)
We write for researchers, healthcare staff, officials, politicians, patient organisations and anyone interested in ethics.
We comment on the research ethics and bioethics debate and discuss our own research. We address issues from current debates in the research community and in the press.
MEET THE EDITOR
Pär Segerdahl is editor of the Ethics Blog and Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics.