“This is the question for our time: What is science unbound by morality?”
Nuclear medicine and nuclear weapons. They come from the same research.
Much of our early genetic research came from NAZI experiments also. Thousands of twins, people with genetic defects, and “peculiarities” died in NAZI Death Camps as they were studied to death. In this case we applied morality to future research on the subject. Now that we can connect genes like “tinker toys” (oversimplification), will science have to moral imperative to benefit humanity, or serve other ends?
The USSR had a major accident involving the release of Anthrax. Hundreds died at a minimum. How many were studied with the goal not of curing them, but of perfecting the weapon?
This makes me wonder about all of these “new” diseases appearing out of China. Maybe their scientists, unbound by morality, have already made synthetic organisms.
As for nuclear weapons (which the US, Japan, and Germany were all working on), these weapons were known to be very destructive only after testing. The morality came in two forms: (1)We need to stop the war or we will have to invade Japan with extreme casualties. (2)We need to find something better for this technology to do.