New Wonder Drug Cures All Illness (In Mice)
Why most research is overhyped
Almost every day, there’s a new science story in the media. A screaming headline catches your eye: “New Study Shows Link Between Disease and Everyday Food.” Or, even better: “Scientists Discover Miraculous Treatment for Disease That May Fix All of Our Problems.”
The story goes something like this: A new study was recently released/presented at a conference/hyped by the university funding it (even though it’s not finished yet), and the media has caught wind. The researchers are cautiously optimistic that their findings represent a breakthrough in their research area. It won’t happen tomorrow, but any day now we’ll have a cure for that terrifying disease they were researching!
From Alzheimer’s to cancer to Crohn’s, there has been a news frenzy over some miracle treatment for virtually every major chronic disease that we don’t have a reliable cure for. Thousands of articles written about how people’s lives are going to be changed forever because Scientists Have Done Something Wonderful.
Such a shame that most of them are wrong.
Animal Models
Say a scientist has a great idea. Maybe she notices there’s a molecule that fits weirdly into a specific protein and thinks of an amazing way to…
