Truth in Mending: In Defense of Negative Outcomes

On turning 50: But it seems like I (this blog) just turned 40! Well, it was actually a whole twenty days ago. How time flies when you are trying to beat the clock, meet a deadline. Now I know what newspaper columnists experience. In truth, there isn't actually a specific timeline for these posts nor an editor emailing me in the middle of the night. I do this to myself. Can you imagine, on the other hand, the pressure researchers trying to find a vaccine on behalf of us all are under, desperately trying to stem the tide of COVID casualties?

Truth in Mending: We have had "Truth in Lending Laws" for a long time now, requiring creditors to disclose to consumers finance charges and related aspects of credit transactions. But what about 'truth in mending', disclosures that tell us ('consumers in waiting') the limits of various studies and outcomes of research regarding vaccines, for example? Actually, they do exist and many times found in the fine print and otherwise 'foot noted' areas of research, places and details us laypersons rarely bother to read or study (perhaps on the surface but certainly not with intellectual rigor). A PhD in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology from Duke University (Ben Mudrak, Ph.D.) recently analogized the now millions of research articles, especially those with "results that are inconclusive or challenge our assumptions are frequently hidden in lab notebooks, never to be shared. These represent the "dark matter" of our research universe - the overwhelming majority of knowledge binding together the bright, shining, published articles". Clever analogy, I thought.

Venturing Towards a Vaccine: By now, about six months into the pandemic, all of us have heard such claims as "There is a vaccine on the way". Well, exactly when and from what direction is it arriving?! How many additional times do you think we'll hear either the media or politicians shout such claims from the mountain top before we actually have a vaccine that is safe, which can be distributed quickly (and fairly, of course), and is 'durable'? In the meantime, I am writing here on the first day of fall in this northern hemisphere on behalf of all the researchers who are tirelessly pursuing valuable, yet 'negative' outcomes. That is, research and clinical trials that do not eventuate in a total cure but contribute nonetheless to a valuable body of scientific knowledge. I guarantee that we will see products and medicines that come from such research, from which we will all benefit, albeit indirectly (in other industries, such as the NASA space program, these are often referred to as 'spinoff' technologies). How many of us, if we were sitting next to such a researcher at a dinner party, would give them our full attention if they tried to explain such research to us, even if it led to an Eureka! moment? Be honest, here.

Down with Negativity: When we were preparing to launch our doctoral dissertation research, a professor shared a story about a prisoner who, after three failed attempts to escape prison, disclosed the details to his cellmate each time. Finally, after the third attempt, his cellmate replied, "Well, I could have told you those wouldn't work; I tried them myself". Indignant, prisoner #1 lamented" Why didn't you bother to warn me?!" To which his cellmate blithely replied, "No one wants to hear about negative findings".  In the context of negative outcomes, we have often heard the quote attributed to Thomas Edison: "I have not failed; I have just found 9,999 ways that did not work". In my own imagination, I have Tom in front of some venture capitalists (the "Shark Tank" of their day) arguing his case, in pursuit of more cash for his ongoing efforts to give us an incandescent light bulb. "Tom, before you get any more bright ideas, you just might want to give it some extra thought and bring us something that actually works....otherwise, it's just a filament, I mean figment, of your imagination..."

In Good Company: So, until a vaccine is fully discovered and distributed, in case you find yourself seated next to such a viral researcher, please give her/him your full attention. And, in case you are about to spend a part of your precious savings or risk more time in our current 'lockdown' condition, you might want your fellow 'prisoners' to share their own negative findings; you just might profit!