Posted by What kind of deception of human subjects is acceptable? at Adventures in Ethics and Science
One of the key requirements that researchers conducting studies with human subjects must meet is that they obtain the informed consent of the participating subjects (or of a parent or guardian, if the subject is not able to give informed consent himself or herself). However, there are particular instances where giving the subjects complete information about the study at the outset may change the outcome of the study — namely, it may make it practically impossible to measure what the research is trying to measure. If these studies are not to be ruled out completely, doing them necessitates some amount of deception or concealment, which seems to be at odds with the need to establish informed consent….
Ask an Entomologist: Larva Migrans at Bug Girl’s Blog
It’s not at all uncommon for strange skin conditions to be attributed to bugs, or bug bites. As an entomologist, it’s also not at all uncommon for someone to ask me to look at their weird skin condition, sometimes even when I really don’t want to.*
Today’s strange skin feature is Larva Migrans. Or, more technically, cutaneous larva migrans.
From Randy Olson: New Shifting Baselines Flash Video for Puget Sound at Shifting Baselines
Call for Submissions: Cabinet of Curiosities Blog Carnival at Bioephemera
The most recent Cabinet of Curiosities, I think, is here, at Walking the Berkshires.
April 9, 2008
, which is now available for the 
