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Least extreme biophysics phd (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 1 day ago by fossilesque@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] AnyOldName3@lemmy.world 44 points 1 day ago

It depends on the specifics of the experiment. Throughout the 20th century, the people most keen on unethical medical experiments seemed the least able to design useful experiments. Sometimes people claim that we learned lots from the horrific medical experiments taking place at Nazi concentration camps or Japanese facilities under Unit 731, but at best, it's stuff like how long does it take a horribly malnourished person to die if their organs are removed without anaesthesia or how long does it take a horribly malnourished person who's been beaten for weeks to freeze to death, which aren't much use.

[-] Grimpen@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 day ago

I'm pretty sure that 80% if what we learned from the Nazi/Imperial Japan super unethical experiments was "what can a psychotic doctor justify in order to have an excuse to torture people to death."

Maybe 20% was arguably useful, and most of that could have been researched ethically with other methods.

[-] Comrade_Spood@slrpnk.net 14 points 1 day ago

The potential value to the Americans of Japanese-provided data, encompassing human research subjects, delivery system theories, and successful field trials, was immense. However, historian Sheldon H. Harris concluded that the Japanese data failed to meet American standards, suggesting instead that the findings from the unit were of minor importance at best. Harris characterized the research results from the Japanese camp as disappointing, concurring with the assessment of Murray Sanders, who characterized the experiments as "crude" and "ineffective."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731

To back up your point that the research gained by unit 731 was useless.