Brazilian bioethics became consolidated in the 1990s. It was during this time that teaching and research centers were instituted, associative groups were created, and the first papers of Brazilian authors were published. In Brazil, the first years of teaching and research in bioethics were marked by a strong influence of the United States, particularly in the theoretic and thematic fields. Among the main topics of discussion were subjects related to the end of life and to research involving human beings, and bioethics was then chiefly influenced by Tom Beauchamp and James Childress's theory of the four principles.