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Which Is It?

Big science can lead to big reactions, and Greg Miller at Wired has put together a poll comparing reactions to the announcement of the Human Genome project to those in response to the new brain mapping initiative, conveniently called BRAIN.

"Today [the Human Genome Project] is widely viewed as a success, but in the early days it too was controversial," Miller writes. "Just because the critics of the genome project got it wrong doesn’t mean that the critics of the brain project aren't raising good points, but there's a similar ring to many of the arguments for and against the two projects."

For example, respondents to the poll split 48 to 52 that this phrase referred to the brain project or the genome project: "Arguments are made that the ... project will give birth to a new generation of technologies. What good will that do in the absence of individuals trained and capable of applying these technologies?"

For the answer, and more comparisons, take Miller's poll.

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