Reflexive Research Ethics in Fetal Tissue Xenotransplantation Research |
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Authors: | Bindu Panikkar PhD Natasha Smith BA Phil Brown PhD |
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Institution: | 1. Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute , Northeastern University , Boston , Massachusetts , USA bpanikkar@hotmail.com;3. Nelson School for Environmental Health , University of Wisconsin , Madison , Wisconsin , USA;4. Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute , Northeastern University , Boston , Massachusetts , USA |
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Abstract: | For biomedical research in which the only involvement of the human subject is the provision of tissue or organ samples, a blanket consent, i.e., consent to use the tissue for anything researchers wish to do, is considered by many to be adequate for legal and Institutional Review Board (IRB) requirements. Alternatively, a detailed informed consent provides patients or study participants with more thorough information about the research topic. We document here the beliefs and opinions of the research staff on informed consent and the discussion-based reflexive research ethics process that we employed in our fetal tissue xenotransplantion research on the impact of environmental exposures on fetal development. Reflexive research ethics entails the continued adjustment of research practice according to relational and reflexive understandings of what might be beneficent or harmful. Such reflexivity is not solely an individual endeavor, but rather a collective relationship between all actors in the research process. |
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Keywords: | bioethics fetal tissue transplantation informed consent reflexive research ethics research ethics |
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