Popular science-fiction author Michael Crichton, best known for his 1990 novel Jurassic Park, spoke at Hopkins on Tuesday on the ethical considerations of science, an address sponsored by the Berman Institute of Bioethics.
The lecture covered many controversial topics, including gene patenting, the removal tissue samples without consent and ties between research institutions and commercial interests.
Hopkins is one of the many private research institutions that maintain a relationship with private companies. Crichton verbalized his reservations about this and other ways that scientific research is often commercialized. He proposed such relationships have led to greater insecurity in medical hospitals, as patients often fear that their doctors are acting in their own self-interest.
Crichton addressed his fears regarding gene patenting, which is the focus of his latest novel, Next.
"Over 20 percent of the human genome is currently owned by corporations. ...This is an undeserving monopoly," Crichton said, referring to the practice in which corporations and other private groups can legally patent any gene they discover. This allows the corporation to withhold any information regarding it or charge a hefty royalty for its use.
During the SARS pandemic that started in 2002, American researchers were hesitant to look into the virus because two or three of the genes related to the virus were going through the patent process at the time, Crichton said.
"When a situation arises in which researchers are unwilling to do work on a deadly virus due to copyright issues, this is a sign that the system needs to change," he said.
Crichton also spent some time considering the ethics of tissue donations. One important question that came up: Could tissues be used for the collective good, even against a patient's wishes? Would it make a difference if the tissues were made anonymous?
In addition to Crichton's lecture, the event included a panel discussion involving Crichton and several Berman Institute faculty members, hosted by Jeremy Sugarman, the Deputy Director for Medicine at Berman. Panelists answered questions supplied by the audience. The questions ranged from the intellectual, such as the feasible possibilities of cross-genetic "chimera" species (a "humanzee" human-chimpanzee cross, for instance) to the frivolous.
"Can you dunk?" one audience member asked, obviously in reference to Crichton's imposing height.
"I'm 6'9''," he quipped in reply. "Of course I can dunk."
Crichton also substantiated the rumor that he submitted a plagiarized paper as an experiment while an undergraduate student at Harvard College. Suspecting his professor was giving his paper lower than reasonable marks, he turned in an essay written by George Orwell for an assignment on Gulliver's Travels after informing a few faculty members of his intentions. It received a B-. Since Crichton had been receiving Cs and C+'s all semester, he said, "this confirmed two things: One, the marks I had been receiving were genuine because a paper not mine got a better grade; and two, if even George Orwell got a B- and he was obviously a better writer than me, I was definitely not cut out for the class."
Some issues, however, Crichton refused to discuss, such as "anything with the initials G.W." referring to global warming and a novel he published in 2004 entitled State of Fear in which he put forth the claim that the effects of global warming are largely unknown and both proponents and opponents of global warming theory are engaging in a debate about a highly politicized pseudo-scientific issue.
Audience members, filling a nearly packed Shriver Hall auditorium, responded to Crichton's lecture with laughter and applause. However, many people left after the lecture and before the panel discussion, most likely drawn to the event more by Crichton's high profile name and recent bestseller than by much interest in bioethical concerns.
A short film was also shown at the event, highlighting Hopkins' own Berman Institute of Bioethics as a forerunner of research and discussion on the most significant future ethical issues arising in the fields of medicine and biology.
