Acta bioethica
Oil, light, gift, and trust: a comparative analysis of metaphor relating to human biomedical data
By Yifan Peng.
Abstract
Abstract: This article analyzes four prevailing metaphors-”oil,” “light,” “gift,” and “trust”-that shape how human biomedical data are ethically and conceptually understood. Each metaphor reflects competing views on ownership, access, and responsibility. By comparing their strengths and limitations, the paper proposes a new “trust-gift” model that integrates altruistic donation with institutional accountability. This hybrid metaphor offers a normative foundation for balancing individual rights with collective benefit and provides practical guidance for building more ethical and inclusive global data governance frameworks.
Keywords
- Ethics in Clinical Research
- data ownership
- data access
- data responsibility
- metaphor
- data ethics
- data governance
- altruistic donation
- institutional accountability
- Open access
Source
Published in Acta bioethica. The abstract is shown as published and remains the work of its authors; read the full article at the source.
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