Plant to detect UBC's medical ethics under fire Review reveals some patients may not have landmines és piel ave : i : GENIUS AT WORK—U of A biologist Dr Michael Deyholos examines his plants. By Ross Moroz, Gateway, University of Alberta EDMONTON (CUP) -- A research team at the University of Alberta is collaborating with Canadian and American ‘military agencies to pro- duce landmine-detecting plants. The team, led by U of A biological sciences professor Dr. Michael Deyholos, hopes to alter the genetic structure of a plant in a way that would cause it to change colour if TNT is present in the soil. The plan is to modify receptors on the roots of a plant so that those receptors would respond to some of the com- pounds present in TNT, helping sol- diers on humanitarian and peace- keeping missions to clear mine- fields. The research is funded by Defense Research and Development Canada (DRDC), the research and develop- ment arm of the Canadian Forces. DRDC -has granted the team $150,000 over two years to conduct a feasibility study. “Everyone knew we couldn’t [produce a plant] in two years,” said Deyholos. “We were only supposed to find out if it was possible, and we think it is.” The idea for the project came from Dr. Anthony Faust, a U of A alum- nus who works for DRDC at Canadian Forces Base Suffield. Faust was inspired by an American plan to use plants to detect heavy metals on the surface of Mars. He theorized that a similar process could be used to detect the com- pounds found in explosives like landmines. The U of A project has since caught the attention of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the American Military’s research and development ‘firm. While DARPA is not contributing any funding to the project at this point, the U of A team is cooperating with an American group funded by DARPA. “DARPA funds way out, weird stuff—they are probably the basis for the X-Files,” laughed Deyholos, who described a DARPA brain- storming session he attended as “very strange.” According to the organization’s website, DARPA “pursues research and technology where risk and pay- off are both very high and where success may provide dramatic advances for traditional military roles and missions.” “TIDARPA] believes that if more than 10 per cent of its projects are successful, they are not thinking radically enough,” explained Deyholos. DARPA was created in 1958 as a response to the Soviet Union’s launching of the Sputnik satellite, and has conducted highly secretive, defense-oriented research ever since, including the creation of ARPAnet, a forerunner of the Internet, in 1968. Among its more ominous current projects is the cre- ation of the “Information Exploitation Office,” an agency which, according to its own website, strives to “achieve the promised benefits of information dominance on the traditional and non-tradition- al battlefields of the 21st century.” While DRDC and Deyholos main- tain that their research is obviously intended to be used for humanitari- an purposes, the involvement of the ultra-secretive and military-centric DARPA raises the prospect of the U of A team’s findings being used for less altruistic purposes. For instance, Deyholos remembers one DARPA meeting where someone wondered aloud whether or not “we could make plants that attack people.” When questioned about the ethi- cal implications of partnering with an American military organization, Deyholos remained pragmatic. “Knowledge is neutral; what you do with it can be good or evil,” he asserted. “Scientists can try to imag- ine all the possible applications of their work, but in the end they are not responsible.” been warned of risks By Megan Thomas, Ubyssey VANCOUVER (CUP) -- UBC officials scrambled into damage control mode last week after two major newspapers ran front-page stories saying the university broke Canadian ethical rules and failed to war some patients of the dangers of medical experiments and drug trials. The National Post and The Vancouver Sun ran stories alleging UBC broke ethical rules on 523‘pro- jects because it did not employ a professional ethi- cist, approved projects using just a summary rather than the entire protocol and failed to adequately inform patients of potential cancer or infertility risks. “We have to have a new look at the protection of the public interest in Canada for people who go into research trials,” said Patricia Baird, a UBC medical genetics professor and ethics expert. But Baird also said UBC is not alone in the strug- gle to conduct ethical medical research. “There are some major problems across the coun- try in terms of appropriate oversight of clinical tri- als,” she said. “I think it would be useful for most - universities to have a good look and have an exter- nal review.” The university’s ethical breach was revealed through a 2001 external review ordered by UBC VP Research Indira Samarasekera. But Samarasekera said the review was not a reaction to concerns about patient safety. “I was concerned that the administrative support was inadequate,” she said. “I wanted to make sure that we were completely compliant and, if possible, that we exceeded the standards that were expected of us.” UBC did not notify Health Canada about the breach until March of 2002, but Samarasekera said the delay was because UBC did not receive a writ- ten report until August of 2001 and had to assess the results. “Until we received the official report, all we had was a verbal indication and it was inappropriate for us to write to Health Canada when we didn’t have a written document,” she said. The Post and The Sun also said UBC began the review by looking at industry-sponsored trials, and alleged that the university was more concerned about research dollars than patient safety. Samarasekera said industry-sponsored trials often involve experimental drugs and are the most dangerous for patients, prompting UBC to re- assess those studies first. “There was a greater risk to patients that were enrolled in industry funded trials,” she said, adding that only 12 per cent of UBC research is industry sponsored. UBC also receives much of its $370 million in research funding from federal government agen- cies. Samarasekera said she does not believe the “We have to-have a new look at the protection of the public interest in Canada for people who go into research trials.” breach will affect the relationship UBC has with those agencies. “They have been very pleased with how open and how responsive we have been with respect to fixing what no doubt is a serious problem,” she said. Health Canada spokesperson Jirina VIk said that each project is assessed individually for merit and that the breach will not affect future funding for UBC. Health Canada is satisfied with the steps UBC took to rectify the problem, but would have preferred the universi- ty not be in that position, said VIk. “They should be in compliance with the laws to begin with,” she said. _ Samarasekera did apologize to the public for any stress the incomplete protocol may have caused. “We certainly regret any loss of confidence in UBC that the public or the community might have experienced as a result of this situation,” she said. “But we would like to assure people that no patient was put at risk. They may not have been informed of the risk, but they were not put at risk.” Only two of the studies required patients to sign new consent forms after the review. Samarasekera said all patients have been contacted and re-con- Dip You Know? Need to know how to find scholarly or peer reviewed articles? Not sure how to use the cata- logue? Want to do research from home? Need information about another university? 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