MARTIN REEE: We think it odd if parents don’t care what happens to their children even if it is beyond their control. Likewise even the purest scientists should care what happens to their work. They should welcome benign applications of their ideas and warn against and resist dangerous or threatening spin-offs.
All scientists are expert witnesses and should be engaged in dialogue with the wider public. But when it comes to making decisions, the views of scientists should carry no special weight.
The main impediment to spreading the benefits of science are economic and political. In our grossly unequal world,…
