issue69

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69"Government should place few, if any, restrictions on scientific research and development"


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To begin with, in order to keep the whole society running on a planned track, various measures are uesd by government to realize its function of regulating and controlling social resources, and one of them is to exert influence on scientific activities. Vannevar Bush, director of the office of scientific research and development for the United States government, the forerunner of the National Science Foundation, wrote in July 1945 that "Science is a proper concern of government". To illustrate it, science not only deals with subjects as diverse as astronomy and economics, which respectively belongs to natural science and social science, but also involves in different levels ranging from theoretical research to actual production. Seemingly, the two aspects of science —universal scope and profound study—determine that scientific activities are sure to affect the whole society directly or indirectly. Accrodingly, think of it in terms of government, regulating and controlling scientific activities is worthy of attention in government work.


Besides supporting policy, which is a commonly effective regulating measure, restrictions are also adopted as a means to government’s purposes. Generally speaking, supporting policy is beneficial both to the self-development of science research and to the publics who most likely share the achievements in the end. Take meteorology as an example; national governments have invested in weather observing networks, which consist of meteorological stations distributed in various regions, and meteorologists forecast the weather according to the data that they have gathered, offering valuable reference for ordinary people, journeies, military operations, and rural activities. And how about restrictions? Some people may say that placing restrictions on scientific research and development certainly will do harm to science itself and the society. However, restrictions have unique functions when considering some worse cases in the society.


On the one hand, government, as the most powerful organization, should be on the alert against dangerous researches conducted by narrow scientists. Some scientists are probably so absorbed in their own study that they ignore the complex influence resulted from it. Suppose one scientist swore to make cloned human just for his own sense of achievement, never thinking about the ethical questions. Then what would happen once he get success? Maybe he cannot solve the complex result by himself. And the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and other scientific organizations have made public statements suggesting that human reproductive cloning be banned until safety issues are resolved. Such kind of scientific problems really need government to prevent. Additionally, some scientific research and development may take too many social resources which are far beyond the value it can bring back. It is better for government to consider invest money in the construction of infrastructure, education, or social welfare rather than meaningless scientific research during government financial crisis.

On the other hand, restriction is not necessarily a blow to scientific research and development. As the publics tend to care scientific activities which are related with them closely, the popular subjects are more likely to receive support and sponsors from folks than the dull subjects are. The favorable attitude may finally bring about unbalance among disciplines. A representative example is in the medicine field. Most people realize the value of clinical medicine but ignore the essential status of the preclinical medicine. When all eyes are focused on clinical medicine, it is true that clinical medicine will develop roundly, but the counter-productive result is wasting many resources which could be invested in preclinical medicine originally. So government should restrict some unrational scientific activities and provide the bulk of the funds for basic scientific research.