Peter C. DOHERTY

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne, Australia

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Title: Living in an Evidence-Based World

Our capacity to “interrogate” nature has been progressing with incredible speed, in ways that would not have seemed possible even a decade ago. In biomedical research, for example, being able to make transgenic mice that express human genes and the possibilities that have been opened by obtaining the whole sequence of human (and other) genomes has already led to enormous advances. Much of this type of science is now characterized by the acquisition of very large data sets that are being analyzed by “systems biology” approaches requiring massive computational resources. The “big science’ that has long been characteristic of areas like experimental physics has now come to biology. Contemporary science in general, whether it is concerned with the nature of immune responses or the climate systems that so constrain our physical environments, is increasingly the science of complexity. As we seek to understand the emerging evidence, we realize that both our existence as physiological beings and where we stand in nature is a function of multiple interactive effects, only some of which can be modified by human intervention. While this should cause us to approach the issue of our long-term survival with some sense of due humility it should also suggest that, providing we engage fully with reality, we have the capacity to drive the human future in positive and sustainable ways. The first, essential step is to begin making the changes that will ensure the good health of this small planet and its myriad of life forms. This in turn requires that we continually inform ourselves by using the best available science to evaluate what is happening, both within ourselves and in the green world around us, and that we act rationally on the basis of what we have learned.