Guinea Pig Zero: An Anthology of the Journal for Human Research Subjects

By Robert Helms

Book Overview

The hidden history of human experimentation--told by the guinea pigs themselves.

Guinea Pig Zero presents the first anthology drawn from the pioneering underground zine of the same name, which began documenting the hidden world of human medical experimentation in 1996. Editor Robert Helms, a veteran "lab rat" himself writing under the pseudonym Guinea Pig Zero, brings together dozens of essays and firsthand accounts from the zine's pages that reveal this dark corner of science from the test subjects' own perspective.

Through gripping personal narratives--from a volunteer who lost his mind in a sleep deprivation study to Gulf War soldiers unknowingly exposed to experimental toxins--this eye-opening anthology reveals what it's really like to trade your body for rent money in the name of science. Including historical accounts of subject resistance like the forgotten 1935 test subject strike, these underground dispatches from the zine expose the disturbing reality behind clinical trial consent forms and the dark underbelly of medical research.

A vital resource for bioethicists, medical historians, and general readers alike, this essential anthology will forever change how you think about scientific progress and the human cost of medical advancement.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1891053841
• ISBN13: 9781891053849
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: Garrett County Press
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.2" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

eye-opening for researchers

I work in the research field with human participants (we don't say "test subjects" in my workplace), so I come at this issue from the opposite side from the author. Because of that, I wasn't sure what to expect to feel while reading this book. I felt that it was very well done, very interesting and helped me see why certain things have to be done certain ways in research. It also made me glad that we do things the way that we do in the study I work on... some of the bad experiences recounted in this book would definitely not happen where I work. The pieces that are written from personal experience are much more interesting to read than the ones that give historical perspective. However, the latter are important reading for those who work in the research field or are considering becoming research participants. These pieces help show why we have strict laws governing research and give some perspective about why so many people fear volunteering for research. I passed this book around my workplace, and several of my coworkers commented favorably on it.