In June, Derek Lowe got some data. Not just any data, but promising results on a new drug. An eight-year veteran of the drug discovery pipeline, Lowe had been waiting three years for this moment. As with most scientists reaching a point of experimental insight, Lowe says, "I hardly know what to do with myself." However, he's not saying this to his boss or colleagues. He's saying it to the whole world over the Internet.
Lowe is a blogger. He also works for the pharmaceutical giant Bayer. It's a unique combination that places him out on the Internet as one of the few industry insiders who is keeping a blog of their daily scientific thoughts. Blogs, (short for Web logs) seem to be exploding as private citizens "talk" on the Internet about every topic under the sun, from parenting to politics. By comparison, science blogs (or at least blogs by ...