Abstract:

Often the society thinks researchers can do almost everything they want. They imagine that we can convert immediately all our ideas into experiments, even the silliest and strangest ones, without telling anyone or asking permission. And this far from being true. Actually, researcher’s conduct is absolutely and precisely regulated by many codes, norms and laws. As with any other group of people, researchers must obey a strict code of conduct and comply with all the laws and recommendations that are pertinent in their fields. Not everything is possible! There are experiments that are not justified. And this is all about ethics. Not all experiments that are technically possible are ethically sound. Not all experiments should be accomplished. One has to balance and value the potential benefits for the society versus the risks and dangers associated with that experiment. And if the benefits do not outweight significantly the risks, the experiments simply are not ethically justified and must not be done. In this seminar, I will briefly review the many different ethics issues researchs must take into account before addressing and designing an experiment. I will underline the relevante of ethics in research. Without this ethical part we will not achieve the necessary trust that we hope to obtain from the society.

Biography:

Lluis Montoliu (Barcelona, 1963) is a biologist, CSIC Research Scientist and Deputy Director at the National Centre for Biotechnolmber of the Steering Committee of the Spanish Research Initiative on Rare Diseases, in Madrid, Spain after working in Heidelberg and Barcelona. He is the Director of the Spanish node of the European Mouse Mutant Archive (EMMA/INFRAFRONTIER).