Season 3, Episode 12: Jacobson’s Organ
Mysterious magnetotactic bacteria are wreaking havoc on North American computer systems, from NorBAC to the New York Stock Exchange. Massive disruptions ensue – work is impeded, flights are grounded, stock trading comes to a stand still – leaving the NorBAC team to wonder what would happen if the bacterial contamination could not be stopped …
Science, computers, and the Internet
Our society is becoming ever more reliant on computers in nearly all aspects of life. Even social networking, once the domain of low tech human interactions like those at parties, chats around the watercooler, and family gatherings, is now also the domain of Facebook, MySpace, and email.
In this episode, bacteria are causing huge problems for NorBAC, not by making the researchers sick, but by infecting their computers! Without “healthy” computers, the NorBAC team is having trouble getting their work done. Scientists, too, are heavily reliant on computers: databases, data analysis software, lab equipment with sensitive digital sensors and controls, and the internet.
Throughout the series, David and his team have used the internet extensively as a means of quickly gathering scientific information. Like so much on the show, this is true of scientists in the “real world”: Reading the latest findings published online, weeks before print versions are available; using Entrez PubMed to look back in time at decades worth of previous research; emailing with collaborators around the world; comparing an isolated gene sequence against other previously discovered sequences using the Basic Local Alignment and Search Tool (BLAST) databases; and much, much more.
The internet provides unprecedented convenience and enormous opportunities for scientists, but along with these opportunities sometimes come challenges that must be addressed. For example, online repositories of genetic information – like GenBank – allow scientists ready access to information that is critically important for their work; however, as we discussed in Episode 9’s installment of ReGenesis: Science & Society, the open publication of certain genome sequences, like those of dangerous pathogens, may also engender security concerns.
Moreover, as personal genome sequences from identifiable individuals start to be published online – for example, through the Personal Genome Project – concerns will arise regarding how third parties, like insurers, employers, police, and private citizens, might use that genetic information in ways that could harm the individual to whom the sequence belongs. Fortunately, this has not gone unacknowledged, as consideration of the potential ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) is front and center within the Personal Genome Project and similar initiatives, like the Archon X Prize in Genomics.
Caveat lector
The internet has become an extremely valuable tool for both the conduct and the communication of science. And scientists are not the only people who rely on the internet as a key source of scientific information – the public does as well.
A November 2006 report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that “fully 87% of online users have at one time used the internet to carry out research on a scientific topic or concept,” while about 20% of American adults use the internet as their primary source of science news and information. Only television is more popular, with 41% of US adults getting the majority of their science news from TV; finally, as primary sources, newspapers and magazines come in at about 14%. The survey also found that when looking for information on a specific scientific topic, like stem cells or global warming, the internet is the tool people are most likely to use.
But the public, like scientists, must be cautious about where they look online for their “facts”. As an unregulated medium, the internet is not only a rich source of valuable information, but also awash in false information, spurious claims, and unsubstantiated conjecture. Caveat lector - let the reader beware.
The Digital Divide
Speaking of computers and the internet, it’s worth noting that this article was composed and edited using a word processing program on a laptop computer; no fussing with typewriters, ink ribbons, or white-out corrective solution required. It was then mailed electronically to a webmaster; no licking of envelope glue, no postage, no waiting for the postal service or courier. And then, mere moments after it was finished and sent to the webmaster, this article was posted on our website for you to read; no print runs, no paper jams or papercuts – unless, of course, you printed it off to read, as some prefer to do.
It’s all pretty remarkable, really. Provided, that is, that you have access to a computer and the internet.
Approximately 70% of North Americans are internet users – including 21% of Canadians and 42% of Americans who enjoy broadband access – compared to only about 11% of Asians and less than 4% of Africans.
This episode and, ironically, this online column, invite consideration of the fact that while many of us take computers and internet access for granted there are billions of people around the world who do not currently derive direct benefit from the digital revolution. The social and economic gap between populations who benefit from digital technology and those who benefit much less or not at all is sometimes referred to as the “digital divide”.
The internet is a prime example of a technology around which we see a digital divide. Physical access to computers and infrastructure to enable internet connectivity is part of the issue, but the “divide” also pertains to the skills and resources needed to effectively make use of what the internet has to offer.
And it’s not just about the internet: we live in a world in which cell phones are ubiquitous in many parts around the world, including North America, Europe and Japan, and yet more than half the world’s population has yet to make a basic phone call.
It has been suggested that closing the digital divide is a precondition for reducing poverty and achieving sustainable world markets. It’s not hard to imagine why this might be the case – with our society and the global economy relying more and more on digital technologies, inattention to the digital divide may lead to a widening of the gap in economic divisions between peoples, communities, and nations – the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.
Just something to think about the next time you’re visiting your favourite websites, downloading mp3’s, emailing friends, or reading an online article like this one.
More food for thought
Q: How much do you use the internet for reading up on science and/or for research? Other than websites, where do you get your news and information?
Q: Think about all of the digital technologies upon which you rely every day – from the time your digital alarm clock goes off in the morning to when you turn off the television, radio and computer before going to sleep. How would your life change if you did not have access to such technologies for months or even years at a time?
Q: How do you use the internet? Do you read and gather information strictly for your own purposes? Do you interact with other people online? Do you add information and commentary to what’s already out there, through a personal or work website, a blog, Wikipedia entries, or travel and product reviews?
Want to read and learn more?
To search for scientific articles using Entrez PubMed, visit:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez
To learn more about GenBank, visit:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Genbank/
To read more about the Pew Internet and American Life Project, go to this site:
http://www.pewinternet.org/
To learn more about the “digital divide” in Canada and globally, visit these sites:
http://www.statcan.ca/english/research/56F0009XIE/56F0009XIE.pdf
http://www.digitaldivide.org/
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/digitaldivide
