Category Archives: Ethics

Zika, Data Release, and the Tragedy of the Commons

Posted on February 17, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

This does not bode well for public health-related sharing (boldface mine): When researchers in Brazil posted four Zika virus genome sequences in the online repository GenBank on 26 January, they were complying with a call for scientists to openly release … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, Genomics, Public Health | 1 Comment

A Potential Ethics Problem With Massive Genomic Screening

Posted on January 24, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

It’s the metadata. Thankfully, I’m not a bioethicist (just a Mad Biologist), so I won’t have my concerns ruled out immediately. But when I read about proposals like this one to sequence everyone’s genome on the planet, I have concerns–which … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, Genomics | 5 Comments

“There Is a Balm In Gilead To Heal The Sin Sick Soul”

Posted on January 18, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

(from here) These excerpts from a speech Martin Luther King gave to striking sanitation workers in Memphis seems appropriate for the political moment. The speech: My dear friends, my dear friend James Lawson, and all of these dedicated and distinguished … Continue reading →

Posted in Ethics, Unions | 1 Comment

What Annual Percent Drug Price Increase Means You’re Not a Sociopath?

Posted on December 19, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

In retrospect, it’s pretty obvious that biotech vulture capitalist Martin Shkreli is a classic sociopath. From flashy, risky activity to an inability to lay low, combined with his penchant for harassing employees and online critics, not to mention multiple frauds … Continue reading →

Posted in Basic Human Decency, Bidness, Ethics, Public Health | 4 Comments

Question of the Day: What Price Trump

Posted on December 8, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Sean McElwee: https://twitter.com/SeanMcElwee/status/674017823589457921

Posted in Conservatives, Ethics | 1 Comment

So Anti-Abortionists Are Pacifists?

Posted on December 1, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Anti-abortionists make no sense to me. I don’t mean that as a synonym for ‘I really, really disagree with them’ (and I do), but that they’re incredibly inconsistent. Take for instance, Republican presidential candidate and scam artist Mike Huckabee (boldface … Continue reading →

Posted in Blastocyst Liberation, Conservatives, Ethics, Fucking Morons | 5 Comments

The Impact of Social Impact Bonds: Predictable and Predicted

Posted on November 5, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

No one could have seen this coming (boldface mine): It was, in the vernacular of corporate America, a win-win: a bond that paid for preschool for underprivileged children in Utah while also making money for investors. Goldman Sachs announced last … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness, Education, Ethics | 1 Comment

Corruption Can Not Be Contained: The Geoff Marcy Edition

Posted on October 19, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Not being so young anymore, I’ve come to realize that there are very few cases of the ‘one bad act.’ When someone is repeatedly corrupt in one aspect of his life, he is usually corrupt in other areas as well. … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness, Ethics | 2 Comments

The Corruption of Scholarship

Posted on October 15, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

For many readers, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren’s calling attention to a potential conflict of interest for a researcher associated with the Brookings Institution probably didn’t even register. But among those who cash in on supposed academic objectivity, it was very … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness, Ethics | Comments Off on The Corruption of Scholarship

Vox Grows Up And Becomes A Gentry-Class Organ

Posted on October 13, 2015 by mikethemadbiologist

Just the same old Wor-Shing-Tun Shuffle, only with a slightly different flavor. It started when Ezra Klein made serious bank on giving lectures to insurance groups–while he’s a self-styled policy expert on healthcare. Now his partner-in-life and New York Times … Continue reading →

Posted in Basic Human Decency, Ethics, Jobs | 2 Comments