About a year ago I posted an article about ReGenesis, a TV show based on scientific investigation into fictional events such as pandemics, crimes, etc. One of the main consultants on the show is a colleague of mine, Aled Edwards [ReGenesis]. Eva of easternblot has found an online interview with Aled Edwards about the show [ ReGenesis on LabLit]. You can read the entire interview on the LabLit website [ReGenesis guru Aled Edwards].
I like what Aled has to say. He is trying very hard not to let the TV show get dumbed down.
The scientists on this show are more like real scientists than anything else on screen. They have to publish, they make mistakes. We place caveats into the dialogue, trying to convey that on the edge of science, nothing is certain: we deal in hypotheses and uncertainty. The science in the show has real-life ambiguity – there’s no CSI-like wrap-up at the end in many episodes. And there’s an order of magnitude more science on the show than any other I’ve seen on film or TV.As many of you know, here's a controversy between many scientists and many journalists about how to communicate science. I think Aled Edwards has the correct attitude here. What do the rest of you think? How many have watched the show?
I watched the show and enjoyed it - I liked that they didn't 'dumb it down' and actually trusted theviewer to understand and follow a story- or at least to look it up if I did not get it! I also liked the less-than-CSI science- that is the TRUE science that was used and it taught me a lot- what better way to educate people than through an entertaining show?
ReplyDeleteSome of the show rang true, others less so. But I really like the long-running issues they confront and the portrayal of unsexy and often fruitless work that is required to make any progress. It makes the few successes they have seem that much more significant, since they seem more real.
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame that there aren't more shows like this. Instead, we get CSI where all the criminals seem to have the only Waloomi Pine tree in 600 kms (and leave pollen at the crime scene) or use the only vial of Russian Yak's blood imported in the last century to build a bomb. At least Regenesis doesn't treat its audience like total idiots.
Congrats to your friend. Hope that the show comes back for another season.