tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6451967208270832502.post4087193135637469765..comments2024-03-27T03:22:41.073-07:00Comments on Psych Your Mind: A Gene for Empathy?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08931064542755278772noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6451967208270832502.post-10322455017955567452011-11-30T10:59:13.804-08:002011-11-30T10:59:13.804-08:00It's always interesting to see information abo...It's always interesting to see information about possible links between genetics and personality traits, although these seeming 'nature' traits are inevitability influenced by 'nurture.' Keep up the study of these links.London Counsellinghttp://www.sessionaltherapy.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6451967208270832502.post-70304938022349385702011-11-27T14:11:56.589-08:002011-11-27T14:11:56.589-08:00EEGiori,
Thanks for the great insights! I definit...EEGiori,<br /><br />Thanks for the great insights! I definitely would prefer that the media reports our findings than ignores them... I love to see science actually find its way to the general public (in fact, that was our motivation behind starting this blog!). But I do think its important not to sensationalize findings too much or people might start to question the veracity of science when they don't see the expected results play out every time in their own lives.<br /><br />Thanks for reading!<br />AmieAmiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02262889319917440938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6451967208270832502.post-18914172047468756442011-11-26T08:14:42.183-08:002011-11-26T08:14:42.183-08:00I'm a postdoctoral fellow also, and I work on ...I'm a postdoctoral fellow also, and I work on HIV vaccine design. One day my mom called me and said: "You've been scooped!" She was all worried because the media in Europe had reported a new HIV vaccine. I Googled and found the source: an article in some UK newspaper. I don't want to be more specific because I hate to make accusations of any sort (we all do our jobs as best as we can!), but anyways, the title read something like "HIV will be reduced to nothing more than a herpes infection" and somewhere down in the text it said that vaccinated individuals had developed "some kind of immune response." The article had great resonance and spread from the UK to Spain and Italy. I called my mom and told her to relax, that I wasn't losing my job any time soon.<br /><br />Turns out, the researchers had used a herpes-type of virus as vector for the vaccine (hence the title). Also, ANY kind of vaccine will develop some kind of immune response (doh!), the issue is WHAT kind of response it elicits and is it enough to fend off the infection. <br /><br />All this to say, yes, the media plays up a lot of stuff. Can you blame them? I personally can't, even though I do get annoyed. But in high school I was a summer intern for the local newspaper doing these kind of reports and often an editor will send you off to cover something you haven't got the slightest idea what it is about, and on top of that you're given a deadline and you have to whip out 500 words without really knowing what you're talking about. <br /><br />Rather than blaming the media, I think it is our role as scientists to make our voice heard and help non-science people put things in perspective, just like Alex did here. I also found the reaction to Alex's paper (and the sample size issue) a bit over-played. As scientists, we should be fully aware of all the caveats. The media aren't, but we are, and that's why we have discussion sections in our papers. I never criticize a paper from fellow scientists because their data is less than perfect. I know how hard is to get the money, the lab equipment and the data itself. Often we set off with grand plans and all you end up with is a handful of sequences. Do you toss them in the trash because you only got tens instead of hundreds or do you try and get the best out of it? So long as you discuss all the caveats in the paper, it's worth putting it out there. Maybe you've found nothing, or maybe you just scraped the tip of the iceberg. But unless you put it out there we'll never know.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09922888671399516573noreply@blogger.com