Bridging the gap between pure science and the general public: comparison of the informational exchange for these extremities in scientific awareness

The overwhelming volume of scientific data presently available is still not of much use to the layperson, due to the inefficiency of informational translation and antiquated nomenclature. Despite an enormous evolution of search and indexing mechanisms over the past decade, there presently exists no matching acceleration of the scientific awareness and comprehension in the average citizen. The exponential growth and global establishment of the World Wide Web has had a dichotomic effect on bridging the gap between pure science and the general public. A wealth of information, both too complex/simplistic and off topic is often the result of current database searches. Too often pertinent knowledge is delayed from reaching one extremity or the other. The sobering experience of the drug Thalidamide attests to this inefficiency, as the hints of a potential difference in enantiospecific bioactivity did not reach the proper regulatory channels in time. Similarly, Linus Pauling's announcement of the antioxidant and ‘fountain of youth’ properties of Albert Szent-Györgyi's Vitamin C resulted in decades of overdosing.It is proposed that with this new age of pure science, technology, search and indexing mechanisms, databases and an increased desire for knowledge that there now exists a need to more effectively bridge this gap. Science itself must afford a more generalized description of resulting data sets and facilitate opportunities for individuals to more fully saturate disciplines falling into the bridging areas. Lycopene, Vitamin E and Vitamin C are used as examples of the successes and failures of informational exchange.