Unintended Consequences: The Dark Side of Scientific Innovations

If we must say the truth, our specie love to predict the future. We are so quick to predict what technology would be used in the next 100 years, or what innovations would be celebrated in the next few months. In fact, in our lives, we do more of predictions than letting life run it course and you know another thing that we are good at, predicting wrongly. While some predictions can be right, some predictions would not because of certain variables and while we try sometimes we get the wrong result. Just like in our lives where we make certain decisions with the expectation of getting a result only to get another result, so is it in science. So let's discuss some of these science predictions, innovations, endeavours and what became of them.

Let's go back to 1957 when Thalidomide was prescribed like candy. Pregnancy in humans have been paved with a lot of symptoms especially Nausea and Vomiting which is common in the first trimester. Asides from the remedies that your old folks give which often doesn't work except for a few times women are known to vomit a lot and be nauseated during the first trimester but then Thalidamide came into the picture. The drug was first created in West Germany for anxiety, and insomnia cure but then pregnant women used it and they stopped feeling nauseated and the urge to vomit. As you would expect, the drug was released to the public and became as common as vitamin C tablets in my country.

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So you would expect that women had the best experience with pregnancy and while I would have loved to say they did have a good experience with pregnancy, actually they didn't because their fetus suffered for their actions. In a few years, there were over 7000 German children who were born with deformities which had to do with twisted arms or legs, missing arms or legs, or with more than 5 fingers. Others had underdeveloped body parts as well as organs. While the government began investigating the cause, more babies were born with deformities and by the time they found the cause to be Thalidamide and ban it for pregnant women, over 100 thousand babies were deformed.

In 2018, how Thalidamide caused the deformity was discovered and it was seen that the drug interfared with the transcription protein in the fetus Gene which was responsible for development. Today, women now use safer drugs during pregnancy which doesn't have any effect on their babies and thalidamide isn't one of them.

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Asbestos is another one but it has been existing since 4000BC where it was used for candles in Ancient Greeks and Egypt. It was also used to make table napkins in recent times and while we used it, it was responsible for a lot of havoc that involved fire but asides from that, it has been shown to affect our health. Asbestos is made of a group of naturally occurring fibrous minerals with needle like fibers which when exposed to can cause several types of cancers, and diseases which includes Mesothelioma and Asbestosis. Actually, asbestos wasn't created to be bad, it was created for great things but then it came with its negative effects.

Okay, maybe we should discuss something that people did in the name of science that were not ethical but were useful as at the time. There was a time when food weren't tested and a lot of food contained things that should not be there as additive for instance Formaldehyde in Milk as preservative which we now know is carcinogenic, or Borax crystals (boron and sodium) in meat to keep it firm making it look fresh but in our world now, borax is found in pesticides and detergents.

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So to ascertain the safety of food at the time, Chemist Harvey Washington Wiley with $5000 from the government decided to get a chef and a grostarted up of healthy men which he promised great food. He took their vitals and then they started to consume different types of chemicals starting from a low dose up to higher chemicals and dosage and would only stop when the men were very sick. The consumed Borax in pills instead of in food and they were asked to share how they felt after consumption and they complained of stomach pain, and feeling less hungry after consuming it. In higher consumption they experienced weakness, headache, and fatigue.

While our predictions and innovations often stem from a desire to improve the human condition, they can have unforeseen and sometimes tragic consequences. Whether it's Thalidomide, asbestos, or unethical food safety experiments, these examples remind us that the road to progress should be paved with responsibility and care, and we can tell that we are improving with science either we get woeful results or promising ones

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Reference

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https://slate.com/technology/2011/03/to-fix-food-safety-bring-back-wiley-s-poison-squads.html
https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/food/a23169/poison-squad/
https://www.americanheritage.com/doctor-wiley-and-his-poison-squad
https://www.americanheritage.com/who-put-borax-dr-wileys-butter
https://www.acsh.org/news/2002/12/04/wileys-poison-squad
https://americanpregnancy.org/healthy-pregnancy/pregnancy-health-wellness/morning-sickness-during-pregnancy/
https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/medicine/thalidomide
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6024765/Scientists-FINALLY-discover-thalidomide-caused-birth-defects.html
https://www.epa.gov/asbestos/epa-actions-protect-public-exposure-asbestos
https://www.asbestos.com/asbestos/
https://listverse.com/2014/07/06/10-popular-ideas-that-turned-out-to-be-really-dangerous/