Description du projet
Une étude explore les raisons pour lesquelles la science n’a pas nécessairement tendance à s’autocorriger
La science repose sur la correction des erreurs pour progresser, mais il est loin d’être aisé d’effacer les affirmations erronées de la littérature scientifique. Le projet NanoBubbles, financé par l’UE, combinera des approches issues des sciences naturelles, sociales et de l’ingénierie afin de comprendre comment fonctionne le processus de correction des erreurs, ainsi que les obstacles auxquels il doit faire face. L’accent sera mis sur la nanobiologie, un domaine particulièrement interdisciplinaire et caractérisé par divers épisodes de promesses excessives erronées. Les chercheurs se pencheront sur les affirmations selon lesquelles les nanoparticules sont capables de traverser la barrière hémato-encéphalique et de pénétrer à l’intérieur de la membrane cellulaire. Ils étudieront également le concept de «couronne de protéines», qui décrit l’adsorption ordinaire des protéines sur les nanoparticules. Les résultats du projet pourraient s’avérer utiles pour d’autres domaines hautement interdisciplinaires, notamment la biologie synthétique et l’intelligence artificielle.
Objectif
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
Champ scientifique
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligence
- natural sciencesbiological sciencessynthetic biology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- social sciencessociologyanthropologyscience and technology studies
- engineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materials
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
Thème(s)
Régime de financement
ERC-SyG - Synergy grantInstitution d’accueil
93430 Villetaneuse
France