In the life sciences, however, consensus on this issue is rare. Biomedical researchers have yet to reach a majority opinion on whether the human genome project (HGP) should or should not be classified as a big science project. Moreover, some life scientists object to the very concept of big and small biology projects. As University of Utah biochemist Martin Rechsteiner wrote in a letter to FASEB Journal (4:2941-2, 1990), "The words conjure up big leagues versus little leagues, serious versus trivial, important versus unimportant."
Yet interestingly enough, disagreement over how the HGP should be labeled has not stopped supporters and opponents of the massive genetic program from advancing their causes with some of the same arguments that inevitably crop up during debates on the topic of big science versus little science. Among those on either side of the project are biochemist Bernard Davis and molecular biologist Leroy Hood, who both ...
