ABSTRACT
One way to judge the progress of a field is to see whether we can predict accurately from principles discovered in the laboratory to real-world situations. If we cannot, then it may be time to go back to the laboratory and re-examine our experimental paradigms and our theories. A parallel can be seen with biological research, comparing in vitro with in vivo testing. The effect should not disappear as you scale up from cell cultures to laboratory animals to human populations, and there should be no unintended side effects, such as was the case for the drug thalidomide.
