LAUSR

When I was a young faculty member, my laboratory was deeply engaged in studies of zinc-containing proteins. One evening, after our two sons had been tucked into bed, I was watching The Simpsons and the episode began, uncharacteristically in black and white, with a man trying unsuccessfully to start his car. Another man says, “You said that you wanted to live in a world without zinc…” and explains the essential roles that zinc plays in various machines and expands on the frightening and dysfunctional scenario. I was genuinely concerned that I was hallucinating and wondered whom I could call to confirm what I thought I had seen. We are now living in a world where the reality of facts and the importance of scientific inquiry and responsible journalism are questioned with distressing frequency. This trend needs to be called out and arrested; the consequences of allowing it to continue are potentially quite damaging.