However much its practitioners might wish otherwise, science is inevitably political. A lot of it is funded by taxpayers. Most of it has enormous-if often underappreciated-effects on humanity. That, after all, is why taxpayers are called upon to fund it in the first place. Which science gets done, and how its results are applied, are thus legitimate concerns of governments and their policymakers. But one thing that scientists like to think really does distinguish their discipline from many other human endeavours is its honesty. Partly because they are taught to think that way, and partly because nature cannot be cheated, and thus scientists who cheat will be found out, science sees itself as a moral cut above most professions. This may be self-serving or a delusion, but it nevertheless means that scientists react badly to threats to their intellectual integrity. So when such a threat is perceived to come from the world's biggest funder of scientific research-the American government-things can turn nasty.
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