The unfortunate fear of biotechnology
"Nothing in life is to be feared, it
is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may
fear less."• Marie Curie.
There is a marked gap between a technical
understanding of biotechnology and how that is translated to layman. In many
cases, the negative stigma may be resolved when well summarized facts of the
outcomes of scientific research are presented. In the very least, it will allow
the masses to make wise, informed decisions about the support or opposition
regarding applications of scientific research.
Many layman feel fear towards scientific
advancement because they do not understand what has been discovered or achieved.
Technical jargon so loved by scientists, make the contents in effect a foreign
language to the non-scientist. When explained in simpler terms and common
language, the layman does not have difficulty grasping the concepts and most
often gets excited, interested and supportive about a topic that they may have
previously considered controversial or ethically questionable. Skewed public misunderstanding fueled by
propaganda of motivated groups and based on large amounts of misinformation can
stymy some potentially useful scientific progress.
Take for example stem cell research, the
biggest controversy seems to lay in the source of the stem cells from embryonic
tissues. In fact, many stem cells may
not be derived from controversial sources. Scientists are making great strides
to develop techniques to undifferentiated or reprogram cells. They use their
knowledge of cell signaling pathways to reverse engineer differentiated cells
into stem cells. In 2012 Sir John B. Gurdon,
and Shinya Yamanaka were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery
that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent. These in vitro (petri dish) derived stem cells hold endless
possibilities for spinal cord injury and organ transplant and may in fact reduce
less desirable or ethically unpalatable methods in use for these conditions at
present.
The flip side of course is that a greater
public understanding will also raise well warranted ethical concerns in some
areas. This is also a welcome result! Properly educating people on biomedical
advancements will ultimately result in appropriate ethics legislation. The bottom line is that we need to educate the
masses so that they can make informed and effective choices. Plus science is
fascinating, it is a shame not to share it.
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