I was just having a conversation with colleagues, who are non-scientists, and had an interesting discussion.
The general consensus is that when science goes wrong, they feel blaming scientists who came up with the knowledge, rather than the people who abuse the knowledge, is the right thing to do. The idea is that there is knowledge that the human race is just not supposed to possess at any point of time.
Which made me think, is this the way science works now? What drives the direction and extent of our research? What factors determine whether research grants are awarded? Are there any kinds of research that are definitely off-limits, and why?