Descrizione del progetto
Uno studio esplora il motivo per il quale la scienza non è necessariamente auto-correttiva
La scienza si basa sulla correzione degli errori per progredire; tuttavia, cancellare affermazioni errate dalla documentazione scientifica è tutt’altro che facile. Il progetto NanoBubbles, finanziato dall’UE, combinerà gli approcci delle scienze ingegneristiche, naturali, sociali e umane per comprendere come funziona la correzione degli errori e gli ostacoli che si trova ad affrontare. L’accento sarà posto sulla nanobiologia, un campo altamente interdisciplinare che ha visto molteplici episodi di affermazioni troppo promettenti errate. I ricercatori esamineranno l’affermazione secondo la quale le nanoparticelle possono attraversare la barriera emato-encefalica e anche penetrare la membrana cellulare. Studieranno inoltre il concetto di «corona proteica» che descrive l’adsorbimento di proteine ordinarie su nanoparticelle. I risultati del progetto potrebbero rivelarsi utili per altri campi altamente interdisciplinari, quali la biologia sintetica e l’intelligenza artificiale.
Obiettivo
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
Campo scientifico
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligence
- natural sciencesbiological sciencessynthetic biology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- social sciencessociologyanthropologyscience and technology studies
- engineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materials
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-SyG - Synergy grantIstituzione ospitante
93430 Villetaneuse
Francia