LETTERS

摘要

It is well established that the forms taken by technological development and scientific research are determined by the social, economic, political and cultural context in which they are pursued. An example of this is the imbalance in research funding for medical disorders that primarily affect wealthy populations and those that affect poorer populations. For this reason I am sympathetic to Zoltan Istvan's desire to decouple science and technology policy from the short-term interests and planning horizons of political establishments (27 August, p 18).