Money in scientists' pockets.

A current growth industry is the organisation of meetings between scientists and those who are often referred to as 'soci-ety'. Behind the complicated but often stimulating discussions these meetings engender lies a profound schism between those close to science and technology and those who feel disenfranchised by it. There are many possible causes for this, including cryptic language, arrogance, different ethical perspectives, concern for the survival of life as we know it, conservatism , etc. However, I believe there is one particular aspect which may be at the core of the problem: money. A recent development in the life sciences is that research has become very expensive. This has multiple consequences. To maintain a research group, we scientists have had to develop new skills to convince politicians that more money should be provided for our work, which has moved science onto the agendas of cabinets worldwide. Nations are proud or self-conscious about the percentage of GDP they spend on research. Those countries with a high level of funding do so in the expectation that it is an investment that will bring rewards in terms of sophisticated industry with jobs and consequential financial gains. We have learned how to play this game and, even when we defend basic research, we often wrap it in the long-term promise of better healthcare in the future. With the combination of research as the pipeline for products, and the increasing needs for funding it, industry has become a significant player in this development. As for most aspects of life, this has both good and bad sides to it. The good aspects, obviously , are that without industry the accumulation of knowledge would be the sole outcome of science. The importance of research to civilisation cannot be over-stressed but there must be a ceiling to the price that society is willing to pay for a detailed wire circuit of an organism. The mixing of science, politics and industry has given rise to new therapeutic compounds and the extra funding has driven forward progress to goals that even very recently seemed to be the topic of science fiction. Consequently, society has high expectations of scientists to cure all of its ailments. The downside of the pervasive presence of industry is that previously solid foundations are becoming disturbed. Today's scientists are both academics and entrepreneurs , and universities and institutes are components of the business world. Moreover, scientists …