Descripción del proyecto
Estudiar por qué la ciencia no es necesariamente autocorrectiva
La ciencia tiene que corregir sus propios errores para avanzar. Con todo, subsanar afirmaciones erróneas del registro científico no ha sido una tarea fácil. En el proyecto NanoBubbles, financiado con fondos europeos, se combinarán métodos de la ingeniería, las ciencias naturales, las ciencias sociales y las humanidades para comprender tanto la manera en la que funciona la corrección de errores como los obstáculos a los que se enfrenta la ciencia. Se prestará especial atención a la nanobiología, un campo muy interdisciplinario que ha experimentado múltiples episodios de afirmaciones erróneas demasiado prometedoras. Los investigadores del proyecto evaluarán el postulado de que las nanopartículas pueden atravesar la barrera hematoencefálica y que pueden penetrar la membrana celular. Además, se examinará el concepto de «corona proteica», que describe la adsorción convencional de proteínas por nanopartículas. Los hallazgos del proyecto podrían beneficiar a otros campos muy interdisciplinarios, como la biología sintética y la inteligencia artificial.
Objetivo
Science relies on the correction of errors to advance, yet in practice scientists find it difficult to erase erroneous and exaggerated claims from the scientific record. Recent discussion of a “replication crisis” has impaired trust in science both among scientists and non-scientists; yet we know little about how non-replicated or even fraudulent claims can be removed from the scientific record. This project combines approaches from the natural, engineering, and social sciences and the humanities (Science and Technology Studies) to understand how error correction in science works and what obstacles it faces, and stages events for scientists to reflect on error and overpromising.
The project’s focus is nanobiology, a highly interdisciplinary field founded around the year 2000 that has already seen multiple episodes of overpromising and promotion of erroneous claims. We examine three such “bubbles”: the claim that nanoparticles can cross the blood-brain barrier; that nanoparticles can penetrate the cell membrane; and the promotion of the “protein corona” concept to describe ordinary adsorption of proteins on nanoparticles. Findings based on error (non)correction in nanobiology should be generalizable to other new, highly interdisciplinary fields such as synthetic biology and artificial intelligence.
We trace claims and corrections in various channels of scientific communication (journals, social media, advertisements, conference programs, etc.) via innovative digital methods. We examine error (non)correction practices in scientific conferences via ethnographic participant-observation. We follow the history of conferences, journals, and other sites of error (non)correction from the 1970s (before nanobio per se existed) to the present. And we attempt to replicate nanobiological claims and, in case of non-replication, document obstacles to correcting those claims. Finally, we will spark a dialogue within the nanobiology community by organizing workshops and events at c
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligence
- natural sciencesbiological sciencessynthetic biology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- social sciencessociologyanthropologyscience and technology studies
- engineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materials
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Tema(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-SyG - Synergy grantInstitución de acogida
93430 Villetaneuse
Francia