ABSTRACT
Biotechnology research is very expensive, and competition for funding is fierce. A proposal from one lab that asks for less money to accomplish more is likely to be the one funded. Few would argue that science has a profound and pervasive influence on everyone alive today. However, there seems to be an accepted division between those who conduct science and everyone else. One obvious interaction area is funding. Recent headlines show that as conservative thinkers and moralists become more influential, policies based on these cultural influences can proscribe some research avenues, such as stem cell sources. While many scientists deny that they are influenced by popular culture, effective and profitable ads aimed at them suggest otherwise. Science is increasingly conducted less as an individual enterprise and more as a collective endeavor. Modern science presents ups and downs for the science-oriented merchant.
