8 Shockingly Unethical Experiments That Actually Happened

1. Eugenics In The US

Eugenics is the practice of essentially genetically modifying the population through selective breeding. Promoting higher reproduction rates between people with "desirable" traits and discouraging it in those with "undesirable" traits theoretically gives you a strong, healthy, disease resistant population which, from a utilitarian point of view is a good thing. In practice, however, you have serious issues with free will and discrimination and, well, you get the Nazis.

Before Hitler came along and made eugenics the dirtiest of dirty words, however, it saw massive popularity in the United States. In 1907, the world's first eugenics-based compulsory sterilization law was passed in Indiana, closely followed by 30 other U.S. states. The sterilisation of "imbeciles" was commonplace in many states for a lot of the 20th century.

Stepping up a gear from sterilisation was the introduction of euthanasia for "genetically unfit" individuals. Whilst gas chambers were suggested but never actually implemented, patients at mental institutions were fed milk infected with tuberculosis, reasoning that "fit" individuals would be able to fight off the disease, resulting in 30-40% annual death rates.

This dark time in the US is said to have actually inspired the Aryan master race projects in Nazi Germany, with reports from the American program being widely cited by the Nazi government in support of its regime.

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