The Tuskegee Study radically changed the views and practice of medicine and ethics. The 40-year study included 600 African-American men and their families. It began with a scientific investigation into syphilis affecting black men. In the 1930s, it was thought that black men were genetically different from white men and that their bodies responded differently to syphilis. The goal was to see what would happen to men with syphilis if they were left untreated (CDC, 2009). This study not only affected those directly involved, but also future generations. There are many reasons why this highly unethical study has continued for far too long. While the end of slavery was near the beginning of the Tuskegee Study, negative social ideas of black people in America were still very present. The study reinforced that Black Americans were still not considered equal to their white counterparts and that science can interfere with what we consider ethical. To this day, the Tuskegee Study influences our ideals, teaches us about the mistakes of the past, and opens our eyes to ensure it never happens again. Slavery in North America ended only 70 years before the Tuskegee Study (Slavery in North America) began. United States, 2010). Even if politically each person was free, socially, being colored was stigmatized. Starting from ignorance of genes, ethnicity, and disease, the Tuskegee Institute made it a point to study how a black man would respond to syphilis. The scientists who conducted the research found no harm in treating these men immorally. For many of them, they were considered “subjects, not patients” (Tuskegee University, nd). Since there was virtually no human emotion attached... middle of paper ... skirmishes that were made. America will never forget what happened at the Tuskegee Study. Works Cited CDC. (February 12, 2009). The Tuskegee Timeline. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm.CDC. (January 30, 2009). Presidential apology. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/clintonp.htm.McDaniel, J. (2010, Spring semester). Science, health, gender and race, women's studies 210. Lecture. University of Arizona. The Nuremberg Code. (1946). The Nuremberg Code. Trial of war criminals before the Nuremberg military tribunals under the Control Board Act, 2(10), 181-182.Tuskegee. (nd). Research ethics: Tuskegee syphilis study. Retrieved from http://www.tuskegee.edu/Global/Story.asp?s=1207598.Slavery in the United States. (March 23, 2010). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States.