In my new book Happy Accidents: Serendipity in Modern Medical Breakthroughs,[1] I reveal a great secret of modern medicine: Many of the pivotal discoveries of the past century, which have saved or enhanced innumerable lives, came about as a result of happenstance. Scientists with open, creative minds stumbled across surprising results, and found what they were not looking for.
Chemotherapy drugs,[2] the psychotropics,[3] many antibiotics,[4] the bacterial cause of stomach ulcers,[5] the source of adult stem cells,[6] and the genetics of cancer[7] – all were discovered by chance.
Only years later is the truth disclosed in memoirs, prize acceptance speeches, and in interviews I conducted with a number of Nobel laureates and recipients of other prestigious awards.
One approach to medical discovery is the centralized management of directed research. The experience of more than 3 decades with a War on Cancer directed and funded by the federal government has shown the futility of this approach. The better approach is based on independent, creative, curiosity-driven research that liberates serendipity. It is this approach that has brought us the bountiful results mentioned previously. We need to be sound in our judgment of the allocation of funding and resources.
Fostering an openness to serendipity has the potential to accelerate medical discovery as never before. Here are my specific prescriptions:
First: Students, particularly in science and medicine, must be taught about the role of serendipity and be prepared to recognize and exploit departures from expected results. Indeed, chance does favor the prepared mind.
Second: Restrictions should be placed on Big Pharma to shift the emphasis from 'me-too' drugs to innovative drugs.[8]
Third: Agencies and foundations that fund research grants should allow curiosity-driven investigators to pursue any unexpected findings wherever they may lead.
Fourth: The process of peer review should be modified to reduce the inherent bias toward prevailing concepts and to welcome mavericks and outsiders.
That's my opinion; I'm Dr. Morton Meyers, Emeritus Professor of Radiology and Medicine, SUNY, Stony Brook.
Footnotes
Readers are encouraged to respond to the author at casey.ebro@arcadepub.com or to Paul Blumenthal, MD, Deputy Editor of MedGenMed, for the editor's eyes only or for possible publication via email: pblumen@stanford.edu
References
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