Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Scientists must engage with the ethical implications of their work: a commentary on Cepeda-Emiliani et al.

International Journal of Impotence Research volume 35, pages 306–307 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

Recently, Cepeda-Emiliani et al. published an impressive investigation of the distribution of neural tissue in the human penis, arguing that permanent sensory disturbances may follow from deep incisions during circumcision that compromise specific neuroanatomic substrates [1]. I appreciate the authors drawing attention to one of .my publications and work more generally [2]; the human prepuce carries an extensive and dense network of peripheral nerves [3], and this detailed article into the distribution of this neural tissue will no doubt be immensely valuable for the future work of fabricating tissue engineering scaffolds for prepuce reconstruction.

That said, I was concerned by the authors’ statement on page 13 that they have ‘no interest’ in the ongoing debates regarding prophylactic, sexual, and ethical aspects of circumcision. It is possible that the authors meant to convey, simply, that a thorough or substantive discussion of such matters went beyond the scope of what they could accomplish with their already quite lengthy paper. However, the language is ambiguous and it could also be taken to imply that the authors are indifferent to such questions or do not see them as being relevant to their scientific work. If this latter interpretation is correct, it would reflect a troubling tendency, seen among many contemporary scientists, to imagine that their research is a purely technical matter that can be conducted in isolation from questions of value (presumed to be better left to others). I will argue, by contrast, that scientists have a duty to recognize and engage with the ethical implications of their work, and that penile circumcision, insofar as it is medically unnecessary and performed without the valid consent of the affected individual, must never be treated as a matter of indifference.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Cepeda-Emiliani A, Gándara-Cortés M, Otero-Alén M, García H, Suárez-Quintanilla J, García-Caballero T, et al. Immunohistological study of the density and distribution of human penile neural tissue: gradient hypothesis. Int J Impot Res. 2022; Available from: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41443-022-00561-9.

  2. Purpura V, Bondioli E, Cunningham EJ, De Luca G, Capirossi D, Nigrisoli E, et al. The development of a decellularized extracellular matrix–based biomaterial scaffold derived from human foreskin for the purpose of foreskin reconstruction in circumcised males. J Tissue Eng. 2018;9:204173141881261 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2041731418812613.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Winkelmann RK. The Cutaneous Innervation of Human Newborn Prepuce. J Invest Dermatol. 1956;26:53–67. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0022202X15488049.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Schopenhauer A, On ethics. In: del Caro A, Janaway C, editors. Parerga und Paralipomena [Parerga and Paralipomena]. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press; 2015. p. 183–216.

  5. Kant I, Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten [Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals]. Revised ed. Gregor M, Timmermann J, editors. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press; 2012.

  6. Nietzsche F, On the History of the Moral Sensations. In: Menschliches, Allzumenschliches: Ein Buch für freie Geister [Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits]. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press; 1996. p. 31–59.

  7. Copland P. Science and ethics must not be separated. Nature. 2003;425:121 http://www.nature.com/articles/425121a.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Einstein A Physics and Reality. J Franklin Inst. 1936;221:349–82. Available from: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S001600323691047505/07/2022; 09/12/2022.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, USA

    Eric J. Cunningham

  2. Foregen, Chicago, IL, USA

    Eric J. Cunningham

Authors
  1. Eric J. Cunningham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Eric J. Cunningham.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

Author is the Chief Science Officer of Foregen.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Cunningham, E.J. Scientists must engage with the ethical implications of their work: a commentary on Cepeda-Emiliani et al.. Int J Impot Res 35, 306–307 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-022-00618-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-022-00618-9

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links