For 2015, the special series on Innovation in the Biochemistry/Molecular Biology Lab focuses on the teaching of ethics in the laboratory. The timeless and expansive nature of this topic may cause some readers to question how it is innovative. However, while there seem to be reminders of ethics in short essays and in informal settings, we have found that the literature is short on examples of how it is being taught and integrated within laboratory coursework. BMB lab educators often do not feel proficient in teaching ethics if they have had minimal or no training in the field. Rather than bringing ethics into their classrooms, they may suggest that their students read books [1–3] or enroll in an ethics course on campus. Many colleges and universities now offer a science-based ethics course [4–7]. However, a survey of BMB faculty carried out in 2008 for the Teagle project, “Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and Liberal Education,” indicated that only about half of them taught ethics in the context of scientific research [8].
Ethics is becoming a prominent theme among research scientists and student members of scientific organizations. BAMBEd is published for the International Union for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB). The IUBMB mission includes a Code of Ethics for Members that encompasses seven specific guiding principles [9]. The items on the list range from “high ethical, professional and scientific standards in both conducting and reporting their research activities” to “protection and sustainability of the environment.” Perhaps the most widely used ethics issues in teaching relate to integrity in data handling and reporting, while issues of sustainability in biomedical research and good stewardship with resources are also gaining attention.
Young research scientists are encountering and identifying issues of ethics in their work and are engaging in larger conversations about ethics. Issues identified in recent Science magazine publications include scientific communication, ownership of graduate school projects, healthy research environments that foster integrity, use of animal models, junk science, and protection of the environment, among others [10, 11].
The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology has recently begun accreditation for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology undergraduate programs. As part of the application process, programs must describe how they incorporate “the teaching of responsible conduct of research/professional code of conduct” [12] in order to fulfill the necessary skill of “awareness of the ethical issues in the molecular life sciences”[13]. The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) is planning to focus on ethics in the Fall 2015 CUR Quarterly [14]. BAMBEd has recently published laboratory activities that contain ethics components [15–19], some of these in the context of personalized medicine [15, 16] or biotechnology [17].
Other publications, including books and websites reviewed in this journal and elsewhere focus heavily on teaching ethics as a philosophical issue to be presented to students in a didactic setting and typically as a separate course. However, teaching of ethics as a topic separate from the scientific and laboratory setting does not have the same impact on student understanding, appreciation, and application of ethics in their research experiences [18].
Compartmentalization of ethics, as noted by Smith et al. [18] can lead students to think of ethics separately from their research, whereas inclusion of ethics in the laboratory setting encourages students to see that their laboratory work has an ethical component. Arkwright-Keeler and Stapleton have collated many resources to assist faculty in designing modules or stand-alone courses [19]. An interesting direction taken by some institutions is to include ethics in courses that prepare students for the transition to graduate school [20–23]. One area that seems to need further attention is development of assessment tools for ethics modules. The articles selected for the 2015 series provide examples or theoretical frameworks for integration of ethics into the undergraduate laboratory.
