I’ve written about a few WWII era research labs that conducted ethically dubious research. Lighting up an island with anthrax for a generation. Secret towns to research nukes and bioagents. Soldiers volunteering to test out “cures for the common cold” that turn out to be deadly nerve agents. These are all terrible and breathtaking tales that I’ll write about eight days a week.
So naturally, I’ve had requests for an MOS on Japan’s Unit 731. Because before you look into it, Unit 731 may seem like just another one of those top secret labs from WWII, no different than the other countries had.It was not.
Today’s MOS… why some labs aren’t labs.
I read up on Unit 731 and looked into what happened there. I even tried to find a science story somewhere in there. Any science story. Perhaps there’s a story in that they successfully managed to create, test, and use bioweapons after untold amounts of human torture. But I don’t think the science is the story here.
If I covered the history of the lab fully, I wouldn’t have a sufficient content note. It would just say “don’t fucking read this, humans are the fucking worst.”
What happened in Unit 731 could hardly be classified as scientific research. It was more ‘let’s torture our prisoners to see how long they can survive the torture.’ The experiments conducted at Unit 731 have been described as “psychopathically sadistic, with no conceivable military application.” That’s what you’re getting for details here. You’re free to look it up, I sincerely don’t recommend it.
There’s a line between unethical research that merits a discussion and torture that the word “experiment” was haphazardly slapped on. I’m not sure exactly where that line is, but I know the conduct in this lab crosses it. This is not science. These were not experiments. These were war crimes.
It’s estimated that the bioweapons researched there were used to attack and kill half a million people in China. After the war, everyone involved pretty much got away with it. Researchers were more or less given immunity by the US in exchange for their findings from torturing people to death, and accounts from victims were largely dismissed as propaganda. Communist propaganda. Because they were Chinese, so obviously.
I did mention that humans are the fucking worst, right?
You might be wondering how I make a distinction between what happened at Unit 731 and, for instance, Porton Down.
As unethical as many of the experiments conducted on humans at Porton Down undeniably were, they didn’t appear to be conducted with the purpose of seeing how long it took to kill someone. Is it different when you do an awful thing that hurts people without the intent to inflict a long suffering death? I’m sure some people will disagree, but I’m of the opinion the difference matters.
I would no sooner write about Joseph Mengele’s “research” here, and nobody’s requested it either. It’s interesting that a mostly western audience would likely never suggest Mengele’s “experiments,” but did ask for this.
Knowing our sometimes ugly history of scientific inquiry is important. However, I really can’t recommend looking up what happened at Unit 731 unless you have a strong stomach or a love for the Saw movies. It’s deeply unsettling, and it has no place in a column about science.
This has been your daily Moment of Science, reminding you that your country and mine taught us all biased stories of the war.
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