What "Science" Looks Like Today
As you saw in the previous lesson, many important scientific discoveries and advancements developed on the grounds of unethically obtained samples. Back in the late 19th century, the famous Nobel prize winners Marie and Pierre Curie had worked on harmful radioactive substances with little or no safety precautions. Despite producing useful results for the scientific community, no regulations on ethicality and safety were in place [1,6].
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Throughout time, the scientific community has learned from these past experiences and started to develop more rigorous guidelines and policies that must be followed to properly conduct scientific research.
Safety considerations
All organizations, labs, hospitals, etc., that contribute to scientific research are expected to have safety rules in place. For example, a common requirement in labs is to wear lab coats and personal protective equipment (such as gloves and goggles) in order to protect harmful chemicals from coming into contact with your body.
Environmental considerations
Many chemicals and organisms that scientists work with can be detrimental to the environment if not disposed properly. Therefore, biochemical wastes from the lab are carefully sorted and removed in ways that minimize harm to the environment. Scientists in the chemical field also practice principles of green chemistry, which aim to reduce the use and production of hazardous substances in their research [7].
Ethical considerations
Ethics is involved in all aspects of research that follows the scientific method. When designing experiments, especially those involving animal or human subjects, scientists must be respectful and caring. During the process of the experiment and when compiling results, researchers are expected to show integrity and be accountable for their results (e.g., NOT publishing fabricated or altered data) [8].
As discussed at the end of Lesson 1, science started off being a one man show (quite literally because there were barely any females in the fields) due to one person working under a range of different disciplines and subjects simultaneously. Now, due to our vast body of knowledge and the amount of skills, techniques, and complexity of questions, we have become more specialized with our disciplines and learned to collaborate more with our peers near us and worldwide (thank you the Internet!). Before you would have Aristotle being a biologist, economist, and philosopher. That later transitioned into someone simply being a biologist. But now, we have so many sub-specializations: microbiologist, chem-biologist, geneticist, immunologist and so many more under just the “biology” discipline. Our complex questions need research that is more in-depth and targeted from many different angles, which can now only be done by sometimes a large team of scientists who all have their own areas of expertise [1]. You can see on any scientific paper or journal article from recent years that there is a long list of collaborators and authors listed in the byline. It is possible the number will continue to grow. Teamwork makes the dream work after all!
Timeline of Scientific Contributions
Aristotle (384 - 322 BCE): Founded the Lyceum school and championed scientific research to answer many disciplines worth of questions [9].
This level of collaboration and ease of sharing information through the Internet has also allowed us to quickly get feedback on our findings, methods, and ethical practices. As mentioned in our Misinformation Module, the peer review process has been refined throughout the years and papers can be utilized, implemented, developed upon, and challenged much quicker than when we had to wait for them to be printed and shipped around the world.
About Us
Science for Everyone is a Canadian Nonprofit Organization that provides educational resources to help raise the level of scientific literacy in the general population.