September 2009 LSAT Section 1 Question 15

Almost all advances in genetic research give rise to ethical dilemmas. Government is the exclusive source of funding ...

Julie-V on July 29, 2019

Stimulus Breakdown

Hi LSAT Max, I'm having a difficult time comprehending (D) as the correct answer. The first sentence of the stimulus says that "almost all advances in genetic research give rise to ethical dilemmas". Doesn't "almost all" leave space for at least one not leading to an ethical dilemma? Or does that not matter since the last sentence says that "one or the other of these sources of funding is necessary for any genetic research", which means that there will be at least one overlap with a genetic research by the gov. or a corp. leading to an ethical dilemma? Thank you in advance for the help! I hope I my questions aren't confusing

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Victoria on August 9, 2019

Hi @Julie-V,

Happy to help!

We know that "almost all advances in genetic research give rise to ethical dilemmas." You are right in identifying that this does leave space for at least one advance in genetic research to not lead to an ethical dilemma.

However, we also know that "government is the exclusive source of funding for most genetic research" and that "those projects not funded by government are funded by corporations." Therefore, genetic research is solely funded by either government or corporations.

Genetic research - > funded by government or corporation
Not funded by government and not funded by corporation - > Not genetic research

Answer choice D reads "no ethical dilemmas resulting from advances in genetic research arise without government or corporate funding."

This must be true because we know that all genetic research is funded by the government or by corporations. We know from our diagram above that if research is not funded by the government and is not funded by a corporation, it cannot be genetic research.

To have an ethical dilemma arise from advances in genetic research, one must conduct genetic research. If the research is not funded by the government and not funded by a corporation, it cannot be genetic research and, therefore, cannot give rise to an associated ethical dilemma.

Hope this helps! Please let us know if you have any further questions.