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The Ethical Cost of Biological Warfare in Unit 731 Joy Lu
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ivisections without anesthesia, poisonous gas chambers, and subfreezing temperatures to induce frostbite were all cruel realities for several thousand Chinese, American, and Russian civilians in Japan’s Unit 731. One of the forgotten atrocities from World War II, Unit 731 was a project organized by the Japanese Imperial Army in which methods of biological warfare were tested. Researchers used human subjects to study biological weapons through methods such as injecting a pathogen in a test subject or providing contaminated water to Chinese communities and observing how the deadly diseases spread through a population. The location in which these experiments occurred is an important part of explaining the necessity to research this topic. Although Unit 731 was a project created and organized by the Japanese, the actual headquarters of Unit 731 were in Manchuria, China which the Japanese occupied during World War II. It seems that they did not want to have an unethical site of experimentation on Japanese soil. It was based in the Pingfan district, and the city of Harbin, the largest city in Manchuria (“Nightmare In Manchuria”). Human experimentation began as early as fall of 1933 (Harris, Sheldon H). General Shiro Ishii set up the secret laboratory and directed over 5000 Japanese soldiers and scientists in conducting these experiments (LaFleur, William R et al.). General Ishii is considered the Father of the Japanese Biological Warfare program, and he believed that biological and chemical warfare were crucial and powerful tools that Japan needed if it were to become a global power. His ideas of researching biological warfare became a reality as the Japanese government allowed him to set up a research facility (“Nightmare In Manchuria”). Ishii also recruited some of the best medical professionals in Japan to assist on the project. Many of the scientists were willing to help because they believed they were making advances in science and that they were serving their country in times of need. Human experimentation is an important part of research to advance science. There are, however, standards to be set for human experimentation so that it is executed in a humane and ethical manner. The experiments conducted must have a strong and worthy cause to benefit society (Shahnazarian, Dalar). In addition, the researchers are not allowed to force the test subjects to do anything they did not want to do. Full consent of the test subject must be given without the coercion of the researchers. In Unit 731, the researchers never stopped to ask the test subject for consent
or give them a choice. The researchers of Unit 731 failed to recognize the value and importance of human life, or chose to ignore its importance, or subordinated its importance to the life of their national community. Others suggest that they did not see their test subjects as people, and they justified their wrongdoings with the argument that similar tests are conducted on animals. While ethically, Unit 731 was wrong, information discovered in Unit 731 is useful from a scientific perspective. The dilemma is whether the use the research findings from a study that killed thousands of people are ethical. In using the data collected, we as a society are acknowledging that the scientific data and information is more important than the lives of the humans who were killed, but we are also acknowledging the sacrifices the prisoners made—not by choice—which can result in lives of this generation to be saved. I study the scientific advancements and the conditions in which the use of the information is ethical. Finally, I compare the extrinsic and intrinsic values to determine that in Unit 731, the information gained to advance biological warfare was considered more important and more valuable than the cost of human life and unethical human experimentation. I explore how the Japanese violated human rights and the basic definition of what it means to be a person and treat others as people. According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, biological warfare is the use of toxins of biological origin or microorganisms as weapons of war. Biological warfare was an attractive means of warfare for the Japanese because they did not have to involve themselves in the fighting but still could inflict serious damage to the enemy. In addition, the Japanese were desperately trying to keep up with many of the powerful Western countries such as Germany and the United States that had already used biological warfare in previous wars such as World War I (Smart, Jeffery). Biological warfare was General Ishii’s specialty, and he was a strong advocate for improving this form of warfare. He spent years in Western countries, observing their techniques and methods for the most effective biological weapons, and when he returned to Japan, he attempted to emulate the advanced techniques (“Nightmare In Manchuria”). The Japanese conducted their research using humans as test subjects because the data for making advances in biological warfare could not be gathered any other way. New advances in biological warfare allowed for improved war techniques that can kill the enemy more efficiently. Seventy percent of the humans used Fifth World
