GS Paper 4
Syllabus: Applications of Ethics
Example 1: Moungi Bawendi
Source: Moneycontrol
Moungi Bawendi, a 2023 Nobel chemistry prize winner and MIT professor, achieved great success in the field of quantum dots. However, his journey had a rocky start.
During his undergraduate years at Harvard University in the late 1970s, he failed his very first chemistry exam, scoring just 20 out of 100, the lowest grade in his class. This experience initially shook him, but instead of giving up, Bawendi persevered.
He realized that he needed to learn how to study effectively, and he went on to excel in his exams, scoring 100s on most of them.
Bawendi’s message to young people is to persevere and not let setbacks destroy their ambitions. “You have a setback, but you can persevere and overcome this and learn from your experience, which obviously I did,” he said. “I learned how to become successful as a student,”.
Usage: This example can be used to show ethical values of Perseverance, Determination, Resilience etc.
Example 2: Nanded hospital deaths
Recent deaths in a Nanded hospital of 31 people within 3 days (16 being Children) have highlighted the ongoing issues within India’s healthcare sector, particularly the challenge of medicine shortages.
Ethical Issues concerned in the case:
| Ethical Issues | Description |
| Patient Safety | Shortage of essential medicines and staff can compromise patient safety and result in harm. |
| Accountability | Governments have an ethical duty to provide healthcare; failure to address shortages raises concerns. |
| Equitable Access | Unequal access to healthcare services raises ethical questions about fairness and justice. |
| Government Responsibility | The ethical obligation of the government is to efficiently manage healthcare systems and allocate resources. |
| Transparency | Ethical transparency is essential to inform the public about resource allocation and healthcare quality. |
| Public Trust | Failures in the healthcare system can erode public trust, raising ethical concerns. |
| Sanitation and Hygiene | Filthy conditions in hospitals violate ethical standards of cleanliness and patient dignity. |
Example 3: Katalin Kariko
She is a Hungarian-born scientist who has been awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Her work on mRNA paved the way for mRNA vaccines like Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
Ethical Values from her life:
| Life Lesson | Example |
| Perseverance | Despite demotion and grant rejections by the University of Pennsylvania, Katalin Kariko continued her research on mRNA. She chose to persist as a lower-rung researcher, determined to make a difference in her field. |
| Belief in One’s Ideas | In the 1980s, Kariko believed in the potential of mRNA to treat diseases, even when it was considered a dead-end by others (others preferred to work on DNA) |
| Innovation | Kariko’s collaboration with Drew Weissman led to innovative solutions for using synthetic mRNA in vaccines, demonstrating the power of creative problem-solving. |
| Resilience | Despite being underestimated as a foreign-born woman in a male-dominated field, Kariko remained resilient and achieved remarkable success in her career. |
