I just wanted to make this thread because I thought it would be a good thread for discussion.  I am mainly referring to the huge scientific explosion that happened during the Nazi regime for my argument.  While I disagree with almost everything regarding Nazi ideology, it is pretty obvious that with little moral value towards their research subjects that they were able to make many scientific discoveries.  The Nazi were also highly advanced in aeronautics, rocketry, remote controlled missiles, etc... (point in listing the other advancement was that they used a lot of slave labor for these projects (V2 rocket especially))

Stem cell research is also a good example of how people's ethics are holding back research.  Now the USA is behind most major countries due to Bush not allowing federal aid for embryonic stem cell research (I am mainly talking about the point that lawmakers believed they were saving lives when they were just making it that the leftover embryos from in vitro fertilization couldn't be used for research and thus ended up in the dumpster).  Sure, private companies could do the research but those companies are behind foreign companies now. 

These aren't the best examples but I will change the op soon to provide better examples.  Some better examples that I will use in the future op: medical marijuana, FDA (based on Kasz suggestion), and hopefully a few more good ones. What are your thoughts about this subject matter?

Damn ethics, if it it weren't for you we would have advanced in stem cell research already and cured AIDS!

Another valid point would be using animals to harvest organs.  We should have cows growing humans legs and arms by now that can be transplanted.  I remember the mouse that grew the human ear in the 90s..  You would think there would be more progress with that research.

I happen to agree with this.

Ethics are important to keep in mind, but it shouldn't hinder science as much as it does now. (In some regards).

Pretty much my point of the thread.  While it is important to not throw away all ethics for progress.  You can't have a group hinder research completely due to mainly religious beliefs.  Take stem cells for example, I believe most of the stem cells they wanted to use were going to be thrown away anyways.  So they made a high moral ground battle about trash.  They blocked the research and basically didn't do shit.

My post should have been typed for me by my 8 armed monkey butler whilst it also cooked me dinner, did the ironing and gave me a happy ending. Alas thanks to scientists and their damn morals , I've had to do all that myself

Ethics don't hold science back, they hold it accountable. The ends do not justify the means. Dr. Josef Mengele was a monster that we should hold in absolute contempt, not glorify. His "science" may have yielded results, but the cost was too high. That any good came from his atrocities is not proof that we should forgo our humanity for the possible advancement of science.

Stem cell research is not being held back by ethics or religion. The frozen embrios were never made illigal. In fact they were the only legal way to harvest embrionic stem cells. People don't want to destroy life even to save life. That's why we only harvest donor organs from those who's lives can't be saved. Because it's ethically wrong to create life just to destroy it, people were against embrionic stem cell harvesting. Nobody wanted to see fetus factories, and for good reason. Because of that stem cell research has switched to adult stem cells which research suggests may be better in the long run. In this case ethics' effect on science was both positive and effective.

Would you really want a cure if it meant innocent human life had to suffer or be destroyed for no other purpose but for "science"?

Sounds better than letting it be destroyed for profit, religion, war, etc...  Also, there are other cases where ethics hinders science (even when the research isn't harming any human).  Take the church's position on Galileo.  They tried to prevent scientific understanding due to the evidence going against the church's claims.  The church claimed they were right and everyone else is wrong that disagreed based on zero science.

What a cynical outlook on life you have.

Was just making a point that human life will be destroyed for many reasons.  Reread the post you just quoted I added more.  To believe one action is right or wrong has prevented/slowed down scientific knowledge for humans.