BAD FOR SCIENCE by Scott Westerfeld

[Maureen Johnson]

Scott Westerfeld is the author of many adult and YA novels, including Peeps, So Yesterday, the Midnighters series, the New York Times bestselling Uglies series

Bad for Science

What is it about Republicans and science? They often suggest that the jury is still out on global warming. Many don't believe in evolution. And they like to think that scientists are these wacky freeloaders who can't be trusted to toe the party line. Always asking questions and insisting on evidence!

But now they've gone too far. They've dissed the fly.

At a speech in Pittsburgh, PA on October 24, Sarah Palin said the following: "And where does a lot of that earmark money end up? It goes to projects having little or nothing to do with the public good -- things like fruit fly research in Paris, France."

Ah, yes, the dreaded fruit fly research. Sounds silly, doesn't it. Clearly a waste of money. (And in France!)

Well, um, no. What Gov. Palin doesn't remember from high school biology is that drosophila (a genus of fruit fly) is one of the most studied creatures on earth for a really good reason. To quote from the Wikipedia entry on drosophila:

About 75% of known human disease genes have a recognizable match in the genetic code of fruit flies . . . . Drosophila is being used as a genetic model for several human diseases including the neurodegenerative disorders Parkinson's, Huntington's, spinocerebellar ataxia and Alzheimer's disease. The fly is also being used to study mechanisms underlying aging and oxidative stress, immunity, diabetes, and cancer, as well as drug abuse.

Yes, let's ditch all that research. What a waste of money!

While were at it, let's stop looking at white mice. What did they ever do for Alaksa?

Just once, I'd love a journalist to ask Palin, "So I recently read about this crazy grant to analyze bread mold. Would you veto that study?"

Palin: "You betcha!"

Journalist: "But penicillin, the grandparent of all antibiotics, was discovered by someone studying bread mold. Congratulations, you just killed two hundred million people! Thanks for playing random science veto!"

Politicians like to make fun of crazy-sounding (and French-sounding) research, but folksy, off-the-cuff presidential vetoes are a pretty stupid way to manage science.

Bonus: if you want to do your own fruit fly research, here are some fruit fly science fair projects for middle and high school. Enjoy!

And never diss the fly.

[Audrey]

wow, what an idiot. And the sad part is, some people actually listen and agree with what she's saying.

[Alwyn]

Good, gosh. How scary is that? Ahem, Ms. Palin, but we sorta NEED science. It's not completely useless, you know. Why does it always have to be science OR religion for politicians? Why not have them together harmoniously?

[Greg R. Fishbone]

From what I've read, the fruit fly in question is a recently invasive species that attacks olive orchards and is threatening to decimate crops in California, so there's an urgency to figure out how to control them before they bankrupt farmers, put agricultural workers out of work, and raise food prices for everyone. The flies have already been in France for years, so that's the most logical place to study them and find people with the expertise in fighting them.

Sure doesn't sound like a waste of money to me.

[Robin Wasserman]

My favorite part of this story is that fruit-fly research has recently led to a big advance in autism research. Which I guess means we can cross "understands the needs of parents with autistic children" off the shortening list of things that qualify her for the vice-presidency.