Several weeks ago I was in Seattle, one of my favorite American cities, to attend a conference for advancing research in a rare crippling disease that I have been studying for more than a decade. This being Seattle, the sky was grey and the air wet, as we convened in a swank conference room overlooking a garden in a sprawling privately-funded research institute with gleaming laboratories packed with the most advanced equipment that money can buy.
As I sat there among a dozen invited researchers discussing the intricacies of the unusual genetic mutation in this particular disease, my mind wandered. Being essentially a clinical researcher, some of the discussion about little known genetic mechanisms went over my head anyway, but this is not why my mind wandered. Being of multiple worlds and always feeling somewhat of an outsider, I have the habit of mentally stepping out a particular situation to look at the bigger picture.
The bigger picture is that this was a “First world”scene; one of security, wealth and virtually unlimited resources to allow these scientists the luxury and comfort to concentrate their intellect in the pursuit of apparently esoteric scientific questions. The other part of the big picture is a scene of equally gifted minds in Second and Third World settings whose intellectual output is limited by preoccupations with inadequate wages, insecurity and limited resources.
Such is the fate of many scientists in the Arab world. But although money is necessary, it is not sufficient in itself to spur on scientific pursuits; you need to have a culture that values progress and rewards innovation. While among the “brotherly” Arab nations many are not wealthy enough to commit to scientific endeavors, the few that are obscenely rich lack the will. It seems to me that these countries would tire after two generations of trying to outdo each other in extravagant, wasteful displays of wealth, and would start investing in projects that will contribute to the betterment of their own people, the people of the region and mankind as a whole. An indoor skiing slope and a man made island as a playground for the world’s super rich do not qualify as such projects.
Where are the regional cancer research institutes? the biotechnology hubs? the Arab silicon valley or the alternative energy research institutes for when the oil runs out?
(Photo: Cattails in winter by AK)
As I sat there among a dozen invited researchers discussing the intricacies of the unusual genetic mutation in this particular disease, my mind wandered. Being essentially a clinical researcher, some of the discussion about little known genetic mechanisms went over my head anyway, but this is not why my mind wandered. Being of multiple worlds and always feeling somewhat of an outsider, I have the habit of mentally stepping out a particular situation to look at the bigger picture.
The bigger picture is that this was a “First world”scene; one of security, wealth and virtually unlimited resources to allow these scientists the luxury and comfort to concentrate their intellect in the pursuit of apparently esoteric scientific questions. The other part of the big picture is a scene of equally gifted minds in Second and Third World settings whose intellectual output is limited by preoccupations with inadequate wages, insecurity and limited resources.
Such is the fate of many scientists in the Arab world. But although money is necessary, it is not sufficient in itself to spur on scientific pursuits; you need to have a culture that values progress and rewards innovation. While among the “brotherly” Arab nations many are not wealthy enough to commit to scientific endeavors, the few that are obscenely rich lack the will. It seems to me that these countries would tire after two generations of trying to outdo each other in extravagant, wasteful displays of wealth, and would start investing in projects that will contribute to the betterment of their own people, the people of the region and mankind as a whole. An indoor skiing slope and a man made island as a playground for the world’s super rich do not qualify as such projects.
Where are the regional cancer research institutes? the biotechnology hubs? the Arab silicon valley or the alternative energy research institutes for when the oil runs out?
(Photo: Cattails in winter by AK)
4 comments:
How right you are abu kareem!
Some Gulf rulers do in fact encourage and reward scientic research and have established grant funds for this purpose. But this still leaves you with the impression that these efforts are aimed more at enhancing personal reputations than building a serious scientic infrastructure in the Middle East.
Poverty does indeed make it hard for scientists but human endeavour seems to still triumph against all odds. I look at India and find that her scientists have been able to make valuable contributions in many branches of science by focusing their efforts on finding practical and inexpensive solutions to the pressing problems and needs of the poor. They leave abstract research to others who have the financial resources and time to engage in it. Also, the fact that India is fundamentally a democratic nation helps to improve educational standards and develop institutions, which in turn diffuses scientic research rather than keep it under the firm control of a few government institutions.
Philip I,
Always appreciate your comments. For scientific progress what is even more important than wealth is a stable society and a culture where advancement is based on merit, not on power, family connections or money. In fact a stable civil society based on the rule of law precludes advancement based on "wasta". It is the absence of such a stable structure that drives aspiring scientists Westward to the detriment of the countries of their birth.
Abu Kareem
Thanks for stopping at my blog. I hope we'd meet sometime in the future.
The Science and research here is carbon-copying others or finding whatever is already found. There is no research mentality, in Syria at least, and that is for several reasons. 1-Asking the question: many doctors imitate what others have done without asking whether it is right or wrong, thus never asking the question. Part of this is of course that medicine is not strictly evidence based but chaos based. 2-Funding: some research opportunities have taken place, but I think there were commercially driven by druy companies where physician would be paid. So there is a finiancial benefit here. On the other hand, I doubt there is a reasonable funding plan to encourage research. 3-Institution: Needless to say, any research here would be better performed in an institution as these are the only places where a "group" of physicians or scientists exist in some form of a team. We are then most likely taling about governmnet hospitals or institutions where everyone is extremely busy, or always attempting to "do the job and take off". 4-Physician or Scientist: This is a major problem. We don't study critical analysis of data, research planning, or writing papers in Syria. And I believe neither do those who specialize here then go somewhere else like france to get trained for a couple of years. So excluding those who have had official training abroad with some focus on research, very few are worthy of conducting meaningful research in which data are reported in other than Medians and range, say. 5-Patients: Let's suppose a clinical research is to be done. Subjects of research, we know from real life patients, are not going to be interested, not going to be compliant, not going to report clearly what you need to know, will let other doctors interfer with what you're doing, and so forth. Meaning research would be better done on subjects whom you'd like to do some form of test on and get some objective measures.
I hope I am at least half-wrong.
My friend,
You ask some very poignant questions, and the answers are both in your post, and in the comments of Bassam and Philip I.
I agree entirely with Bassam's analysis, and add to that my two-pence.. Medical research has no viable prospect in Syria for all the reasons that Bassam has eloquently listed.. Other scientific research is equally doomed because those who are qualified to do it are disenfranchised and have lost all sense of purpose or belonging.. People are constantly running in a 'rat race', struggling to make ends meet, or fighting for their very survival... not necessarily in the physical sense, but certainly in the professional sense.. I think you have hit the nail on the head in your response to the comment by Philip I... A stable, democratic, meritocratic society is the bare minimum requirement for active, visionary, successful scientific research
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