Biomed Thinktank

A few weeks ago there was a post on EvolDir for a "Biology, Medicine, and Society" thinktank. I don't have much to say on this, but it seems like a great idea if it's setup and run properly. Science has become incredibly specialized and it's hard to see the applications of many areas of research. That does not mean that they are not useful -- pure science can be quite rewarding and the accumulation of many "non-practical" areas of research make up the wealth of knowledge that leads to innovations that many people can take advantage of. For instance, without evolutionary genetics theory, much of the disease gene mapping done using the human genome sequence would not be possible! At the very least, laypeople should understand the scientific process (even if they don't understand all of the terminology and technicalities) so that they don't get fooled by bad science such as Intelligent Design (to use an overused example).