Ethics of Erasing Memory
Neuroscientists have found a drug that can erase memories in rats. If we could a develop similar drug for humans, should we use it?
December 14, 20107m 59s
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Show Notes
If you could take a drug that could erase your memories, would you do it? It’s not such a hypothetical question—neuroscientists have identified a drug that can wipe out memory in rats. It’s not something that could be used on humans, but its existence raises a lot of big ethical issues. To sort those out, we talked to Art Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania.
Produced by David Levin. NOVA is produced by WGBH in Boston. Funding for NOVA is provided by ExxonMobil, David H. Koch, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and public television viewers.
To learn where the science stands on memory-erasing drugs, go to pbs.org/nova/sciencenow
Topics
science NOVA PBS medical ethics bioethics memory Fenton Sacktor Caplan neuroscience