Logo

Data Is a 'Substitute for Thinking'

Dec 17, 2008

Sydney Brenner was in Bangalore to give a keynote speech at the Indian Institute of Science. There, he said that scientists should read the human genome themselves as computers miss a lot in processing it. Brenner added that young researchers shouldn't be lured into systems biology where data is a "substitute for thinking." Brenner also said, "There is a crisis in all sciences these days. We are drowning in a sea of data, and yet we are thirsty. Science today rewards only those who collect and distribute data. There is no reward for those who organize the data and theorize based on it."

Breaking News
The Scan

Pig Organ Transplants Considered

The Wall Street Journal reports that the US Food and Drug Administration may soon allow clinical trials that involve transplanting pig organs into humans.

'Poo-Bank' Proposal

Harvard Medical School researchers suggest people should bank stool samples when they are young to transplant when they later develop age-related diseases.

Spurred to Develop Again

New Scientist reports that researchers may have uncovered why about 60 percent of in vitro fertilization embryos stop developing.

Science Papers Examine Breast Milk Cell Populations, Cerebral Cortex Cellular Diversity, Micronesia Population History

In Science this week: unique cell populations found within breast milk, 100 transcriptionally distinct cell populations uncovered in the cerebral cortex, and more.