Blog Comments

Kinetica Online is pleased to provide direct links to commentaries from our senior editor Dr. Steven Pelech has posted on other blogs sites. Most of these comments appear on the GenomeWeb Daily Scan website, which in turn highlight interesting blogs that have been posted at numerous sites in the blogosphere since the beginning of 2010. A wide variety of topical subjects are covered ranging from the latest scientific breakthroughs, research trends, politics and career advice. The original blogs and Dr. Pelech’s comments are summarized here under the title of the original blog. Should viewers wish to add to these discussions, they should add their comments at the original blog sites.

The views expressed by Dr. Pelech do not necessarily reflect those of the other management and staff at Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation. However, we wish to encourage healthy debate that might spur improvements in how biomedical research is supported and conducted.

Politics

The Politics of Science

A recent Pew survey reported that more than half of scientists (~55%) consider themselves Democrats, compared to about a third (~35%) of the general public. Blogger Chris Mooney at The Intersection also wondered why about 52 percent of scientists call themselves liberals, whereas only 20 percent of the public does so. S. Pelech outlines several factors that predispose its practitioners of science to be more "liberal" in their outlooks. He also questions generalizations about the differences between "Republicans" and "Liberals" in the US with respect to their perceived value of science, especially since both types of administrations have strongly supported scientific research activities in the past. Read More...

Will It Be Good or Bad for Science?

Karen Birchard at The Chronicle of Higher Education speculates that the victory for Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party in the recent election might lead to increased investment in research, but Blogger David Ng at The Intersection, suggests the opposite — that a Conservative majority "is a step back for science" in Canada. He argues that "the Harper government has consistently ignored whatever sound utility the scientific endeavor can provide, and by doing so, has put the future of Canadian science at risk." S. Pelech comments that overall government investment in science in Canada has not really differed that much between the Liberal and Conservative Parties when they have been in power in the past few decades. However, he argues that the diversion of precious research dollars to initiatives such as GenomeCanada has most likely contributed to the decline of the biotechnology industry in Canada and the plight that most Canadian biomedical scientists face today in getting support for their research. Read More...