Module #7: Microbiology
Leader: Mike Hyman, NC State
Members: George Bodner, Purdue; Marit Nilsen-Hamilton, Iowa State; Robin Kurtz, Wisconsin; Paul Patek, Hawaii; Jothi Kumar, NC A&T; David Resnik, NIEHS.
This module will provide general training for doctoral candidates in Microbiology, helping them to recognize appropriate and inappropriate business practices in their professions. The module will focus on ethical issues of microbial pathogen discovery, identification and the economic drivers associated with patent rights to develop testing procedures for these pathogens.
We will examine two cases. The murky history behind Robert Gallo's “discovery” of HIV suggests Gallo had had no luck isolating this virus until he was supplied by a strain from a laboratory in France . The huge amounts of money that followed this “discovery” from the development of a test kit have made it unclear as to who should receive credit for the scientific discovery, not to mention the wealth that has accompanied that credit. Is this a case of naked ambition and greed?
A second case that addresses similar issues is the highly questionable response of the British government to BSE (mad cow disease), and the enormous pressure put on USDA by the US beef industry. Producers do not want the USDA to test for BSE because positive findings could undermine the entire industry. The issues here are political advantage and economic power as they involve microbiologists.