5 Science-y books I’m recommending in 2024

Not all of these are newish. Some are a recounting of history, some tell an intensely captivating story, and some will prove prescient when we look back at the times since 2020. I’ve read each one of these books on Audible and you’re looking at a snapshot of my library.

1. THE CODE BREAKER 

Any biography written by Walter Isaacson is well worth the read, regardless of who the subject is. While this isn’t strictly a biography, it includes a lot of detail on the central character’s upbringing, life, and career. It contains a sweeping account of some of the forbears, both winners and losers, involved in the discovery and delineation of the structure of DNA, setting the stage for the pioneering research performed by Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier. 

The sometimes simmering, sometimes explosive tensions amongst contenders vying for acclaim, and wins in patent disputes on the CRISPR-CAS9 technology, demonstrate well how breakthroughs are achieved in a murky pool of egos, fragility, malintent, but also personal suffering, and some motivation to do good. The author includes ethical questions that will arise in the imminent future over the ability to create germline modifications to achieve specific enhancements in human abilities and features — a topic I find most fascinating and one that will strain the limits of human beings to grapple with ethical quandaries, but eventually eat of the fruit that’s pleasing to the eye, while squashing debate. As the last few years have shown, there’s a high societal tolerance for censorship even in the freest of all nations, when propelled by fear, expediency, or greed.

2. THE GENOME ODYSSEY 

This is a slow-paced inventory of major achievements in genomics and how several of them are being applied to real-world settings. Read in the author’s pleasing Scottish accent, this book takes you on a journey through seemingly-unsolvable medical cases, before being prodded open by his sleuthing team applying the tools of genomic interpretation in the context of determining the best approach to care. 

It is not overtly technical, so a lay person will be able to appreciate the case made by the author on how genomics and advances in the field bring precision to the quest for solving difficult disorders. I’d lived with an ‘any minute now’ sense of anticipation since the beginning of my Masters program in Biotechnology, which coincided with the completion of the Human Genome Project (HGP). Touted to be an absolute game-changer, the discoveries based on an understanding of the sequence of the genome, have been exceedingly slow. As Craig Venter, one of the pivotal players in the HGP lamented at a talk in London I attended recently, the focus has been on sequencing genomes and not understanding them. And in his quintessential sardonic style exclaimed how ‘most scientific advance is undoing the stupidity of the past.’

3. EMPIRE OF PAIN 

By now, you’ve either read a book, or watched a documentary or mini-series on the Sackler family and the opioid crisis. This book covers the multi-generational stories of the dysfunctional Sackler family and the nexus between industry, academia, and institutions. It would be too simple to pin the overprescription of opioids and the consequent crisis soley on greed. The author’s narrative, in my opinion, vividly depicts a toxic cocktail of willful ignorance, delusions of grandeur, halfhearted attempts to justify actions taken, and full-blown psychopathy. 

The narrative unfolds quite rapidly and it’s because it is an unremitting tale with no redeeming qualities — from experts who pushed back against restrictions on prescribing opiods while citing studies funded by Purdue Pharma, massive investments into think tanks and lobbying efforts, soaring commissions to sales reps obliquely incentivizing sales in zipcodes with high concentration of other painkillers, to burnishing the legacy of the family with the Sackler name on buildings and museums with their ill-gotten gain. 

I spent a stint in a biopharma in Bangalore, India, straight out of B-school, and while it might be hard for an outsider to appreciate, most researchers, analysts, product managers and engineers are motivated at least to some degree by a desire to improve life. As with all human endeavours, poor incentives, weak guardrails, and the revolving door between regulators and the regulated, can sully the loftiest of goals. And so, not being naive about one’s propensity for corruption, should be a point of frequent reflection for a professional in any field.

4. THE NEW ABNORMAL 

This book is from one of those voices who got the ethics of the COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccine mandates right, at the time, as the public pressures to comply were mounting. To regret one’s silence and complicity while in a position of influence, but go on to clearly see the impact of the massive collateral damage to society, even if in hindsight, would still be commendable. However, Kheriaty was vocal when decisions were being made — in politics, public health, hospitals, academic institutes, and companies, clamping down on the freedom of the public and employees, in the absence of irrefutable evidence that the vaccines worked as claimed. 

At great personal cost, his refusal to keel over while attempting to persuade colleagues in his capacity as the chair of the ethics committee at UCI, his place of employment, is a profile is a courage. Also a plaintiff in a free speech case, Missouri v. Biden challenging the government’s attempts at social media censorship of dissident opinion, his long drawn-out battles would certainly have been fatiguing. I wonder if at any point, the author felt deflated enough, to want to retreat and lay low until the storm subsided, as in his place, I would perhaps have. But it seems apparent, he sees his foremost allegiance as owed to higher principles. Sample his critique of ‘scientism’: “The technocractic society with scientism as its public theology is not the inevitable consequence of scientific advance. The problem is the mischaracterization of science as the only valid authority, the enthronement of science as the exclusive reigning principle for all knowledge and for all of society.’

5. MALIGNANT 

I picked this book up primarily to satisfy my brooding about what could’ve been had I chosen to pursue one of my considered career choices in my late teens in India. Some intersection of stem cell research, and genomics as applied to an intractable problem like cancer, was of interest to me. However, the field was still nascent, the stories of stalled projects from academic peers due to funding issues was frustrating, and having written the medical entrance exam, I switched abruptly to Biotechnology. Enough about me. 

First off, an audio book in the author’s own voice makes sense to me. Especially if it’s a familiar one. I found it written (or read) in a very matter-of-fact style, yet managing to be riveting, plowing through example after example of serious, unethical, and befuddling (to me) issues in the design of clinical trials, with control arms placing patients on inferior treatment options that were not standard-of-care. I imagine it would be infuriating for a patient or caregiver to uncover some of the financial entanglements and misaligned incentives of players and experts, to whom they often, blindly and without reservation, entrust their care. 

It’s a (relatively) short book but covers a swath of areas, that would interest conscientious industry players, practitioners, and patients and their families. It corrected some misconceptions in my mind too, perhaps formed as a reaction to the perception of overreach by government (represented by regulatory agencies), thus considering ‘more treatment options’ to always be unalloyed good, as long as they were safe. 

Veering outside the scope of this book, I was glad for Vinay’s measured but fearless excoriation of so-called experts during the pandemic. I surmised a singular commitment to the truth and a determination to simply point in its direction, without concerns about whether his views would be construed favorably. I’m certain that the need and urgency for such a railing against a system that fails those it’s intended to serve, will only grow in the years ahead. I hold out no hope that the lessons needed to stem the societal plunge toward totalitarianism, will be learnt. 

One of my favorites was his takedown of Francis Collins, who I held in regard as someone who was a good witness to the ‘come now, let us reason together’, spirit embodied in Christian teaching. To call his one-sided stances, censoriousness, and lack of compassion toward those made pariahs by the policies he advocated for, as disappointing, would be an understatement. I suspect the author and I share little in common in regard to an ultimate value and belief system, but this particular dissection of Collins’ failures in both methods and results, crystallized why his is a voice that will, both in the moment and in its trail, be of substantial benevolence in the public square. 

A gifted rabble-rouser. Deus inluminet viam tuam.

My 6th year as an immigrant to the West — the good and the bad

Before I get into lessons learned and all that, passport privilege is real. When I visited Glasgow a few months ago, I almost headed into the longer line snaking out of the entryway, and then glanced at the conspicuously shorter US/Canada line that did not require a visa of its passport holders. For such dignities, I’m grateful.

As an unabashed admirer of the West, words come easy when thinking about the exceptionalism, cultural assimilation, superior institutional standards, and meritocracy of these lands. So it gives me no pleasure to note (still as a relative outsider) the rapid deterioration of the West, almost entirely self-inflicted, and feel powerless when many have no cognizance of it.

1. Rejection of what makes the West great: The US is still more religious relative to other Western countries that have long abandoned the vestiges of their great faith which shaped, particularly in England, their identity, judicial system derived from Biblical case law, and conscientious application of justice, often at great cost. Historian Tom Holland, author of Dominion, says, “People in the West, even those who may imagine that they have emancipated themselves from Christian belief, in fact, are shot through with Christian assumptions about almost everything.. All of us in the West are a goldfish, and the water that we swim in is Christianity, by which I don’t necessarily mean the confessional form of the faith, but, rather, considered as an entire civilisation.”

Having discarded and now openly hostile to faith, citizens’ natural spiritual impulses are now recklessly attempted to be satisfied with nihilistic, self-mutilating activism.

2. The ‘no work is mean’ attitude: Coming from a highly classist society, I frequently reflected on the dignity rendered to all tasks and jobs, and found it moving in all my travels to the West. Man being made in the image of God, must surely, have been the underlying ‘assumption’, and its weight can sometimes be deeply appreciated, only through its contrast.

I loved my life in Mumbai and miss the hustle and hospitality of people there, but markers of distinct socio-economic layers ran across society. It was unspoken in many occurrences, overt in others, but there were parallel societal clusters who mingled but didn’t merge.

3. The inability to hash out differences: This one is a bit of a head-scratcher. I was an admirer of public discourse in the West, and viewed the rancorous interaction between politicians and reporters, even the onerous hair-splitting over policy matters, as proof of a transparent society that greatly valued individual liberties, consent of the governed, and a robust commitment to free speech. Increasingly, however, even highly accomplished and educated men and women, who should have been steeped in these values prefer confining themselves to their in-groups, will tolerate no threat to their worldview, and retreat at the first sign of conflict.

Instead of engaging with another viewpoint, being open to conviction, and willingly entreating opportunities for growth.

Sadly, professing Christians have not exemplified the standard. How evident was this during the lockdown years of 2020–21. Francis Collins, the then NIH Director, whom I admired fresh out of my Biotech Masters program as an example of a public witness to the critical and ethical thinking encouraged by Christianity, as applied to science, failed to reason together with those who consistently provided clear-eyed dissent.

4. The rise in lawlessness: Growing up in Mumbai, no matter where I went, my head (or is it neck) was on a swivel. I could not let my guard down, and I mostly looked forward to my US trips because I did not need to be scanning all directions, all the time. Women in the West come and go as they please, and have no sense of the queasy unease or the stomach pit when you have to push past lecherous hordes with their obscene gaze.

When ‘Defund the Police’ spread to Toronto, it was truly chilling and each time I walk past or read about locked merch, shuttered stores, needles and syringes, bus shelters taken over by tents, the alarming rate of suicidality, pro-Hamas intifada chanters, and violent offenders released after their 49th strike, I feel a soul-sickness looking on at the destruction of the last-standing bastion.

5. The reek of death: Perhaps, best symbolized by the wafting smell of weed as one drives downtown. Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) according to an Oct 2023 Health Canada report* constituted 4.1% of all deaths in Canada in 2022, having grown by 30% over PY. The law is set to expand access to MAID for mental illness even if it’s the sole condition.

A culture of degrowth, decline, and death — how can it enjoin God to keep our land ‘glorious and free’?

6. The veneer of relationships: Much ink has been spilled lamenting the loss of friendships, increase in loneliness, and a perpetually online presence. Going from doing life with a community where people dropped in uninvited because they were in the area (they were not), were lavish with their time, and made it their business to know all about yours — the barren formality, revelling in its ‘niceness’ was a huge adjustment.

I’ve met genuinely well-meaning and compassionate people here, and experienced the kindness of strangers. It made overnight transition to a country, alone and with few connections, worthwhile. And so from within these fair lands, I hold out hope for a one — conscientious, chivalrous, with the ability and desire to hold conversations, even difficult ones, in person, and who rejecting the lull of the false bravado offered by the dating app culture, steps up to the plate.

Until the day that ‘swords are beaten into ploughshares, and spears into pruning hooks’, may the West be salt and light, a city set on a hill, and a respite in the storm.

*”Fourth annual report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2022.", Health care system and services: Reports and publications, Government of Canada, Oct. 2023, https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/health-system-services/annual-report-medical-assistance-dying-2022.html

A conversation on Bible study and why it matters

Why diligent, systematic, and regular study of the Bible is transformative. 

Listen to the full conversation on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. 

Advent Passages - A (South Indian) Reading

Some of the best known and loved passages prophesying and heralding the birth of the Messiah, in a few languages and my South Indian voice.

Merry Christmas!

How loving Lennie changed my mind about pets

First of all, as someone who wasn’t raised with and has never owned a pet, every meme about cats is true. They are the star of their own show, and you’re the novice actor with a bit part. They will snuggle when they are ready to, will play when they feel like it, and will emerge out of their safe space on their time. They are immune to the sound of your voice, will ignore your pleas, and unless allured by food, are the original social distancers.

So, from confidently asserting that I was fine with pets, as long as it was others’, that I had no problem adoring their quirks, as long as they were at arm’s length, to now whispering “I love you, Lennie” in the midst of a hectic day, it is a tale of an about-turn in the face of first-hand experience.

Lennie, although, is an exhibit among cats. Temperamentally mild, she mewls sparingly and invites play by gently bouncing off your feet as you walk by. In the early days after my sister brought her over for weekend visits, I did try, somewhat, to be immune to her liquid brown gaze narrowing as she struggled to keep her eyes open, her dorrito-shaped face sculpting into a triangle if you lifted it for a kiss, and her soft pink paws walking pitter-patter over you as a stopover on her destination.

Three Lennie-inspired reflections:

1. Mortality: We’re off to a macabre start.

My sister insists that Lennie’s soul is eternal, and that the redemption of all creation one day means she will go ahead of her and stay ready to respond to her voice, in heaven as on earth. I don’t know — “Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?” (Ecclesiastes 3:12). While pondering on Lennie’s trajectory including her slow deterioration and eventual death is dreary, it does spur a sense of urgency. In a treatise, Thomas Watson wrote, “He who often meditates of death — will make the best preparation for it.”

2. Uncertainty:

Lennie is smothered with affection, squeezed with cuddles and is the theme of many impromptu songs. Yet, going by her fright at the sound of a doorbell, her commitment to secluded corners, and her forlorn wailing at the crinkle of a can of tuna, one wonders if she thinks she’s one misstep or meal away from death’s door. Her memory clock resets each day, not taking the comforts of yesterday for granted.

For a to-do lister, detailed scheduler, and timeline-bound goal creator, grappling with uncertainty is discomfiting.

3. Curiosity:

It’s endearing when Lennie’s head turns, her ears tilt, and her eyes fixate on a squirrel, chirp, or a twig. One of my favorite ways of learning is to ask questions of people from all walks of life — in that sense, I’ve never met a stranger. Being curious is a valuable trait that supports the injunction found in Old Testament law, “then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly”. And Proverbs states, “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.” In our present state of the world with fixed ideological priors overruling any appeal to withhold judgment, hear all parties out, and be willing to change one’s mind when presented with evidence, I want to be like Lennie: ever-learning, ever-teachable, and ever capable of being influenced.

Lastly, I can imagine the generosity, wonder, and compassion, a pet would arouse in a growing child. So, future hub, if you think the kids would benefit from a pet in the home, I wouldn’t object. We’d have a role model in Lennie.

Finish well.

In an interview, Kellyanne Conway, a successful political campaign manager, frequently in the eye of relentless storms, posed this heart-breaking question, “Would you rather be right or be loved?” She was commenting on the extreme polarization within American politics where lifelong friendships and even marriages, including her own were being torn asunder by the blood-drawing sword of blind ideology.

I remember being impressed as a teenager in India, by Senator Ben Sasse’s description of political differences, that while politicians agree on the problems, they differ on solutions; some lying to the left while others to the right within the political spectrum. Except for the most rosy-eyed idealist, that is no longer held as true of politics anywhere in the world — we have entered good versus evil territory, red lines have been drawn, and the twain shall never meet.

These musings came to a head after an experience which caused me to ponder over the poverty of spirit, weakness of character, and stunting of spiritual maturity, that can result from elevating political devotion to the pinnacle of one’s life. It should not surprise Christians when unbelievers act like unbelievers, so I make it a point to exercise patience, extend the benefit of the doubt, and remind myself of who I would have been hadn’t it been for the grace of Christ. On the other hand, of all people, Christians have access to every resource to inform each facet of life, and hence the least excuse to plead ignorance or casual disinterest in the formation of a Biblical worldview.

May we never presume politics is neutral, and that God is sovereign over only the church, instead of governments, courts, and laws being under divine subjection to God’s standards of justice. May we live knowing that each of us will stand accountable not only for a slice of time on Sunday mornings, but all of life’s choices, including our political conduct.

So, if you identify as a believer (see what I did there :-), but have never paused to reflect if your political commitment is aligned to the will of God, or if you have cut off opportunities to grow when confronted with the convictions of a Christian who takes the Bible seriously, and willing to engage with patience and kindness, might I implore you to examine if you’re really in the faith? Perhaps, you will benefit from the questions I ask myself, knowing all too well how prone I am to wandering and presumption.

(1) Do you have a high opinion of the Word of God? Spiritual growth, like physical growth is not a mystery shrouded in an enigma. The renewal of your mind will only be accomplished by an intentional study of the Bible. We’d never believe that pulling a page at random from a textbook on quantum physics would arm us to apply its principles in general and particular spheres, yet we are satisfied to visit the Bible twice a week.

The recent unilateral cancellation of student loan debts led to thoughtful Christians weighing the morality of the issue, utilizing Biblical principles. “What does the Bible have to say” is a necessary starting point for safe reasoning powers, navigating moral morasses, and achieving mental clarity. 

Implant Scripture in your mind systematically, and you will detect perilous logic masquerading as wisdom, consistently.

"I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you".

(2) If you are a composite of the privilege of birth, opportunities to grow in godliness, and gifts to do good to society in general, and the people of God, in particular, do you tremble at being called to account for your time on earth? 

“To whom much is given, much will be required”.

(3) What is the status of your secret life? Do you walk in the light of God, knowing God has complete view not only of your public deeds, but your private actions, and even the motives of your heart? Have you been slow to make amends, to seek forgiveness, to express remorse at bare minimum efforts in your relationships, while straining to cultivate your personal brand and professional monuments? 

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked”.

(4) Do you seek the will of God and then determine to walk in it? A good check is that you shudder at the thought of being outside it. What can be worse than squandering your life, misguided by selfish ambition and craven aspirations, all the while believing you’re achieving your goals? If Christ has not transformed your desires, Christ has not transformed you at all. You would seek God’s glory, His aim in the world, and your role in it.

Sure, it’s costly to follow Christ, but not following Christ has a cost too.

 

“Your life is not your own, you have been bought with a price”.

(5) Who do you ally with? Is the political party that you’re striving to bring to power - enshrining wickedness in policy, acquitting the guilty while condemning the innocent, and rising in active opposition to the church? This does not mean that the opposing party is the default option, but when persecution comes (it will look different in the West), are you poised to be the voice of reason in your political position? 

Will you have at worst, compromised, or at best, hidden any semblance of a Christian witness, by dismissing grievous evil that God will judge, as “culture wars”? Will you have done damage to the cause of Christ and brought disgrace to His people? Would you please consider the future consequences of present compliances?

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain. The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the LORD..”.

(6) Do you represent Christ well? At each movement, each wave of activism, each media report, do you wait for facts to be presented by all parties? Do you harbor contempt for a viewpoint from someone with less socio-economic or educational trimmings?

How can you appeal to Christianity’s truth claims based on reason, if you don’t exhibit that attitude in examining both sides of every issue? And most of all, is your guiding principle, whether you eat or drink, or expound on economics, politics, business, or law, to advance God’s righteous standards? We all bring a 'religious' persuasion to the public sphere; the atheist, the agnostic, and the Christian. Do you make a compelling case for righteousness, so that even unbelievers work with you to preserve its wide-ranging historic, present and future value to societies?

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake”. Notice the cause for persecution — ‘righteousness’, although our knee-jerk reaction is to consider it limited to bringing the Gospel to an unreached land.

(7) Are you capable of being influenced? Are you teachable? Is your life transparent and accessible to a community of godly men and women? Do you invest in the local church? 

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers”.

(8) Do you consider your own mortality? You have one life, and even that can be demanded of you in a heartbeat. Thinking of the night Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg died still gives me chills. Media debates raged about the significance of relaying her judicial vision as she lay on her deathbed. How sobering to dwell instead on the fact that at that very moment, she stood before The Supreme Judge, without the foggiest doubt as to the reality of God, His rule over the world, or His righteous demands. 

“This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”

Back to my musings. My disappointment at professing Christians' careless disregard for the laws of God and those articulating a lofty regard for them, was replaced with fear. 

So, note to self and appeal to you, dear reader - Don’t meander through life, satisfied with a Sunday sermonette and a Spotify worship playlist, blind to your eternal destination. Don’t evade righteous conviction. Don’t prevent the formation of redeeming relationships. Do finish well.

Photo by Braden Collum on Unsplash

Nostalgia. Melancholy. Worship

Must be that I'm approaching 5 years since I left my home country. Must be that my diet now has a steady infusion of daal, roti, and chai (chai latte for you Westerners) since my parents' visit. Or that I feel a nostalgic yearning for all things Indian upon reminiscing that my plans at departure included likely returning after 6 months. 

In that spirit, here's a list of songs from my native land that remind me both of a bygone era and a time yet to come. Songs that deepen melancholy but still express hope. 

And if there were a way to convey continuity between Mumbai, the chaotic city of my birth and a tranquil eternity unsoiled by pain, heartache and injustice...

(1) The words of this song occurred to the writer (Wilson George), heartbroken at the sudden death of his 30-year old brother, Sunny. He died in an accident in 1990 while on his way to preach the Gospel in Nagpur. The writer was originally supposed to travel with his brother, but couldn't join him at the last minute. 

Maut zindagi ki aakhari manzil to nahin; maut ke baad ek aur zindagi abdi 

Ki abdi zindagi mein, apne kaamon ka pratiphal paoon 

Anant ke liye kuch inaam kama jaoon; isse pehle ke chala jaoon, is duniya se 

Death is not the final destination of life; there is a life eternal beyond death 

And in that life eternal, I will receive the fruit of my labors  

So I must reap a reward toward eternal life; before I depart from this world 

Translating it does not adequately capture its solemnity and gravity on the one hand, or its expectation and ecstasy on the other. 

Psalm 90:2 "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom".

(2) The haunting bridge. The classical harmony. And the rich score. 

Andheron mein tu roshni hain; tu hi manzil, tu raasta bhi hain  

Tu hain jahaan na kuch kami hain; tera hi naam zindagi 

In darkness you are the light; you are both the destination and the road to it

Where you are, there is no lack; your name alone is light 

Matthew 4:16 "The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

(3) And this final gem is in Malayalam (I wouldn't be surprised if it's amongst the languages spoken in heaven). Malayalam, is the state language of Kerala, situated on the southernmost tip of India, where history records Thomas, the apostle of Christ, as having arrived in AD 52. He was martyred in Mylapore, near Madras (now Chennai). 

Yeshu en pakhshamaai theernanithal, enthor anantham ee bhuvil vaasam

Haa ethra modam parthalathil, jeevikyun naal 

Since Jesus has been on my side, what peace has been earthly living, 

Oh what joy on this mortal coil, as long as I live here 

Romans 8:31 "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

 Yeshu en pakshamaai

A giant leap backward. Why scientific fraud affects us in more ways than the obvious

I was greatly agitated by the recent revelation of fraud in the scientific world of Alzheimer’s research. It felt like an affront, a betrayal, and a giant leap backward. For well over a decade, so much of public funding and pharmaceutical investment has focused on Alzheimer’s disease that a breakthrough seemed just around the corner. There was palpable excitement when I graduated from my Masters in Biotechnology in 2008. The human genome project was grandly announced to be completed through the joint efforts of the NIH and Craig Venter’s private venture. Gene editing was expected to correct many genetically-inherited diseases, beginning with single-gene mutations. Neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and auto-immune diseases, with promising drug candidates in Pharma pipelines, were due to be treated in the near-future as manageable conditions.


In light of this expectant glow that bathed any new discovery and any new approval related to Alzheimer’s, the allegations of fabricated data in highly cited articles describing a leading theory of disease formation, are no doubt a massive setback.


Science.org’s investigation into claims of misconduct by the leading light of the dominant theory on the causative agent in Alzheimer’s, Sylvain Lesné, reveals how perverse incentives in science can actually hinder critical thinking. Because scientific journals reward novel work, there is insufficient motivation for researchers to disprove prior theories, or attempt reproducibility. After this mischief was unearthed, it was reported that scientists who tried to replicate the finding of Aβ*56, the purported culprit in the formation of brain plaques leading to Alzheimer’s, were unsuccessful.


In addition to wasted funding of over a billon dollars by the NIH, this reigning theory is believed to have led researchers off into an erroneous direction for 16 years. The FDA’s controversial decision in 2021 to approve Biogen’s aducanumab for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, directed against Aβ, despite weak clinical trial results on its efficacy, and against the guidance of its advisory committee, should have begun exposing the weakness of a system that undermines ongoing critical inquiry of past scientific discovery.


Matthew Schrag, the neuroscientist who played a key role in unearthing the fraud of manipulated images in Lesné’s articles, speaks of his lab experiments on the link between Aβ plaques and iron deposits, and a high cholesterol diet in rabbits. When Schrag moved to replicating the results in humans, he failed. Alzheimer’s was a complex disease and as he explains it, even careful experiments done in good faith can fail to replicate, leading to dead ends.


Personally, there was another reason why this uncovering was so disquieting. In the last three years, most of the civilized world in a mass abdication of the values that propelled scientific exploration and advance, congealed around the two blunt tools of lockdowns and vaccines. Obdurately refusing to learn from the success of an alternative approach, the crushing of dissent from those who refused to sing from the official song-sheet was immediate and complete.


The criticism of the expert-driven consensus around Covid was primarily that science is never settled, that it requires an attitude of healthy scepticism, open-mindedness to a multiplicity of therapeutic strategies, and a willingness to course-correct in the face of mounting evidence. What’s especially galling is that the heavy-handedness of governments and health bureaucrats was executed in the name of service to science. The loss of credibility and trust in public health institutes is a blow that would be hard to recover from. This broad distrust of the purveyors of science is a frightening development, not least because it puts paid to the conspiratorial bent of many who reject scientific endeavors brought to fruition through the academic-industry network.


During the pandemic, I noted with consternation, a growing tendency in some circles, to connect all pharmaceutical treatments, and all healthcare systems and procedures, to a global malfeasant plot. It really didn’t help that much of what would otherwise be dismissed as conspiratorial, actually came about, through governmental overreach, regulatory authoritarianism, and breach of territorial sovereignty by the dictates of unelected global elitists. I do not have hope that this situation will improve; I fully expect that in the war-pandemic-famine-crises the world will yet undergo, we would have relinquished more of our liberties and suspended more disbelief.


Addressing my fellow Christians, as an aside, nuance should be our forte, and waiting to examine all evidence, the norm. I love how the New King James puts it in the book of Proverbs, “The first one to plead his cause seems right, Until his neighbor comes and examines him.”


As people who make the case for our faith by appealing to reason, pointing to the historical authenticity of Biblical manuscripts and events, and presenting God as the One who empowers minds to uncover the principles behind the fixed laws He established in nature, there ought to be a very high bar for what we believe about what’s happening in the world. Gleaning from the wisdom of the 8th century prophet Isaiah, “Do not call conspiracy everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.”


Scientific dogma, in general, is disconcerting. It’s easy to forget that as late as the mid-19th century, maternal deaths were common due to the absence of antiseptic procedures. When Ignaz Semmelweiss in 1847 proposed handwashing with a chlorinated lime solution, he was mocked by his colleagues, and roundly rejected for going against the scientific consensus of the time. He was eventually committed to an asylum where he died shortly after, due to being beaten. He was vindicated only three decades later, when handwashing measures became a widespread practice.

Semmelweis-reflex: reflex-like rejection of new knowledge when it contradicts norms, beliefs, paradigms

Makes me wonder which of the unfalsifiable theories we do not tolerate any questioning of, will be cracked open years from now. Even Darwinian macroevolution which is the sine qua non of biology, which has had several intellectual critiques by scientists across multiple disciplines, including mathematics, will perhaps, not be required allegiance for advancing in careers. Intelligent design (which opens the probability of God, but does not work within a theological framework), might gain ground as a credible explanation for the origin of life. There are several noteworthy scientific discourses on the exploration of intelligent design as a theory, without the scientists holding any religious viewpoint.


“Even if misconduct is rare, false ideas inserted into key nodes in our body of scientific knowledge can warp our understanding,” said Matthew Schrag, the Alzheimer’s neuroscientist supporting the petition to the NIH about the data fraud. I’m making an extrapolation to societal conduct and cohesion — the most urgent rediscovery, is of the need to engage with differing opinions, instead of viewing them as threats. More to come, on the detrimental effects of extreme polarization, due in large part to, a refusal to challenge one’s intellectual hubris, and inviting another into one’s mental and emotional vaults, with their suppositions, worldviews, and experiences, while demanding acceptance, nay, celebration of our own.

The Donald Trump Dilemma – how does a Christian live with the contradictions?

Christianity Today recently published an article making a case for Donald Trump's removal from office, suggesting it unthinkable for a Christian to support him. The mainstream media in the States otherwise keen to ignore Christian opinion, promptly gave it traction, like a disapproving landlord finally hearing a pesky tenant out. In a conversation with an acquaintance, she was quick to assert that Christians are hypocritical in applying their moral standards, by giving Trump a broad pass, just because he appeared to be on their side. She was convinced Christians were being conned. 

We’ve heard some version of this over and over again – Christians have abandoned all principle in favor of political expedience. Not only are they turning a blind eye to Trump’s serious flaws, but they’ve gone so far as to congratulate and uphold him as a role model.

So, what is the truth? Is it as black and white as critics claim? And what if two things were true at the same time?

I enjoy discussing politics and world affairs, and am a minor history buff (although my enthusiasm far outweighs my knowledge), but I’m growing very selective about whom I have these conversations with. Politics has become so extraordinarily tribal, that no longer is it about debating policy or the merits of an issue. It’s now all about picking a side, and sticking with it, no matter the intellectual cost. If your side goes sliding down, you sink with it, or even pretend that all is swell.

In November 2016, I was in India, and convinced that Americans weren’t so ignorant as to elect Donald Trump, reducing the US to a laughing stock in the eyes of the world. There was no question, in my mind, that Hillary Clinton was by far, highly electable, and must win, if the US were to remain a dominant player at the world table. A strong US that speaks for free speech, free markets, religious freedom, and remains, in many cases, a last bastion for human rights across the world, is in the best interest of all countries, including India. I was nearly in tears, as the results from the electoral college started coming in, and it looked certain that Donald Trump was going to be the President of the US of A. His losing resoundingly, seemed inevitable just that morning.

It took a call with my mum, to begin my journey of looking beyond the clamor of one-sided, elitist, and contemptuous coverage of Trump and his voters. My education started with listening to conservative commentators like Ben Shapiro, exposing myself to news from the right-of-centre spectrum, and an insightful book by J.D. Vance, ‘Hillbilly Elegy’.

It helped me appreciate that the US is not homogeneous, and that it’s more than the East and West Coasts. The ravages of decades of leftist welfare policies, and governmental overreach, combined with the opioid crisis, had left deep scars in swathes of middle America, who felt forgotten by politicians and snubbed by coastal elites.

I moved from an antagonist to a sympathizer. Stephen Harper’s (former Canadian Prime Minister) “Right Here, Right Now” added nuance to my broad education, on the rise of populist, right-wing movements in many parts of the West.

So, yes, it’s compatible to be a Christian and vote for Donald Trump. In a landscape of worsening choices, going with a party/politician that will least hasten cultural decline, is a legitimate option. Christians should not judge each other for making a political choice they wouldn’t have made themselves. Ultimately, the office merits respect, and to the extent that one’s conscience is not violated, obedience to the government, and being a good citizen is obligatory for a Christian, irrespective of which political party is in power. 

Another complicating wrench is the plain truth that the President of the United States may not be a stalwart Christian or an exemplary human being. That would be ideal, and when someone comes close, absolutely worthy of celebration. Regardless, a Christian’s duty is prayer for those in positions of power, making well-considered choices based on who aligns most closely with godly values in a rapidly decaying society, and ultimately acknowledging that God is sovereign, over who is elected. 

Sometimes, a ruler is put in charge, for mercy and respite, sometimes for judgement and indictment.

So, one can find a politician’s personal behavior morally problematic, while extending support on a policy-by-policy basis. There's also no question unfortunately, that association with Trump has damaged the evangelical witness, especially when they have remained silent in the face of Trump's excesses and mean-spiritedness. This must be part of a larger critique of the church relinquishing its responsibility and moral high ground in being a convicting voice against cultural decay. 

As loathsome as a Christian may find Trump’s lifestyle and character, fact is, he has surrounded himself by conservative appointees and advisors who support the traditional causes that Christians understand to reflect God's bestowal of common grace to human society. “The least of evils” is not a great argument, but in an era where post-birth abortion is not just accepted, but shouted from the rooftops, and infanticide softened by the deceptive use of words like a “fetus born alive”, voting for a President who intends to curb such an evil practice, is not only wise, but I’d go so far as to call it imperative.

Let’s live with these contradictions; always in tension, never fully reconciled – support the President when he takes a righteous stand, call him out when he is petty and vindictive. Pray for him, without tripping over his supporters to praise him. In a world gone awry, it’s possible to be uncompromising, while being shrewd as a serpent. Most of all, let’s not stoop to what is happening all too often; contempt for a fellow human being who made an unexpected voting choice, instead of empathy for why.

***Update, 2022***

As of this writing, Trump has not announced that he will run in 2024. He should not. Circumstances have changed; our response should wisely modulate. 

He should step aside for someone who has the competence, character, and message discipline to build on and carry forward his policy wins. His party has a deeper bench; there are legitimately good candidates for the presidency. 

To channel Elon Musk, Trump is drama. He cannot stop airing his grievances over the flaws of the last election. He had his day in court to prove his claims of ballot fraud, but was unable to. He could have done much to protect the integrity of the election process, while still in power, to limit the weaknesses engendered by mail-in votes. 

The January 6th 2021 debacle can be pinned on several guilty parties, however, there is no contesting that Trump handled himself poorly and that his heart was not truly into being a peacemaker that day. 

He has served his purpose - the flamethrower who voiced the aggravation of his countrymen, frustrated that their elected leaders and the permanent underclass, were thwarting their voices. 

It would now be better for him and his country, if he could muster grace, play kingmaker, and prompt history to exonerate his administration in the aftermath of the American quest for self-sabotage. Any stable genius would.