A Brief History of Public Participation in Scientific Research

Historically, science was often the pursuit of amateur or self-funded researchers but the 20th century transformed science into a field dominated by university-employed researchers and government-employed researchers. Money-biases and investment schemes entered the realm of the sciences and science lost the participation of the public.

Technology has allowed the comeback of citizen scientists in certain areas of science. By connecting interested people and creating a platform for people to acquire knowledge, the Internet has assisted greatly in the push for citizen science.

An Example of Citizen Scientists: Synthetic Biology and the Biopunk Movement

Using the Web to build citizen scientists today