When performing scientific research on human subjects, the researchers generally come across the question that asks what gives humans the right to exploit such potential organisms. The question is not for the sake of the conscience to go through the moral steps intertwined with scientific research. Korea University Institutional Review Board (KUIRB), since 2005, has been taking on these issues with ethics to further speed up scientific progress at  Korea University (KU).

 

   
▲ Caduceus, the symbol of medicine. Provided by www.dailyrounds.org.
Based on the “Legislation Regarding the Ethics and Safety of Life,” since its creation in 2005, KUIRB had been installed and managed solely for the ethical aspects of embryo and gene research until the May of 2007, when it was expanded to include non-clinical experiments on humans. The renewed review board has since been able to fulfill the requests of the researchers at KU that demanded the exact international review standards for non-clinical human experimentation.
 
Since a good number of experiments which KUIRB examines take in humans as experiment subjects, it is inevitable for the review board to constantly go over and weigh the pros and cons of human experimentation. The issues surrounding animal experimentation, which the KUIRB also oversees, will not be dealt here, however, due to its controversial nature. Of course, both the review board and the researchers want the benefits to outweigh the harms. To assure that such an ideal situation transpires, according to Professor Shin Nah-Mee (College of Nursing), the assistant administrator for the board, the KUIRB upholds the following two principles: to protect human participants and the researchers themselves.
 
Human participants would not want any harm done to themselves during the experiment, and Shin says that the board’s job is to make sure that subjects experience no such inconvenience and their participation is voluntary. “Primarily, if the harms are greater than the benefits, we and the researchers
do not see any reason why the research should necessarily be done,” commented Shin. She continued by saying, “Only research that benefits humankind and at the same time does not violate any ethical bounds should be carried out.”
 
Additionally, the board’s job is to protect the researchers conducting the somewhat painstaking experiments. “If the research follows all the guidelines put forth by the board, then we (KUIRB) certify that particular research,” replied Shin. According to her, should any of the researchers run into any legal problems relating to their researches, they can back themselves in courts with the certification.
 
When defending both of the aforementioned parties, the board must also have a set of governing guidelines. In response to a question about their own principles, Shin answered by mentioning the case of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment. This was an experiment in which the participants, who were African-American, were not informed about the possible risks or the remedies of the trial by the experimenters, who were white. “Any experiment that completely neglects the inherent rights and dignities of humans cannot be research-like,” asserted Shin.
 
The experiments performed outside the KU hospitals, because of their nature, are entirely non-clinical, but such a feature does not necessarily limit their variety. Shin listed three of the following experiments that belong to the category of non-clinical experiment: survey study, observational study, and intervention study. All three, despite their indirect approaches, manage to successfully draw out accurate and precise scientific analysis.
 
Shin, along with the other prominent members of the board, meets twice a month to discuss ethical issues concerning experiments of interest. Moreover, the participating fields of study not only include Psychology, Medicine, and Nursing but also Health Science, Education, and even North Korean studies for the welfare of the North Koreans residing in Korea. The KUIRB, to this day, strives to optimize the well-being of humans, whether they be experiment participants or researchers, by collaborating with various colleges and institutions.
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