Discoveries Achieved Through Serendipity
Serendipity played a large role in the area of pharmaceutical drug discovery and development of emerging psychotropic drugs that resulted in the eventual formulation of modern psychiatric treatments for mentally ill patients. Several types of drugs were attributed to serendipitous discoveries such as aniline purple, penicillin, lysergic acid diethylamide, meprobamate, chlorpromazine, imipramine, potassium bromide, chloral hydrate, and lithium. What led to these discoveries being serendipitous was that a complete incorrect rationale resulted in accurate empirical findings. Lithium, for example, is a therapeutic drug used for mood disorders. This drug was initially discovered in 1817. It was later, rediscovered in the 1940s, during testing trials which resulted in an unexpected protective and therapeutic effect of lithium (Ban, 2006).
Discoveries Achieved Through Error
Mistakes and accidents in research have resulted in some amazing discoveries that have changed and revolutionized the world in beneficial ways. The discoveries of quinine, x-rays, microwave oven, Velcro, radioactivity, Sweet’N Low artificial sweetener, insulin, Teflon, Vaseline, and the first evidence of the Big Bang. The chemical compound quinine, an anti-malarial substance used in the treatment of malaria, was discovered purely by accident by Jesuit missionaries in South America since about 1600. A local man was suffering from malaria, and drank from water at the base of a cinchona tree resulting in the abatement of his fever. X-rays were another accidental discovery made by Wilhelm Roentgen and his work on cathode ray tubes. When putting his hand in front of the tube, he noticed on the photo plate that he could see his bones in the image (McFadden, 2020).
Discoveries Achieved Through Exaptation
Exaptation is a concept that is descriptive of the evolutionary modification of a trait adaption needed for a new function. Some examples of exaptation are the feather of birds and dinosaurs, suture lines between human skull bones structures, turtle shells, viral DNA from other organisms left in hosts, and the human brain (Common Descent, 2020). One such discovery that has changed our understanding of how DNA and viruses propagate and evolve is with repetitive DNA viral sequenced transposons. These transposons contain material that is from viruses. Found not serve no function initially, research was conducted to find that this leftover viral material was actually beneficial to the host (Parry, 2013). This has served to help understand DNA, viruses, genes, and vaccines.
Meanings
These terms are usually not ones that I employ in my vocabulary, such as serendipity and exaptation. Serendipity, in my opinion, is something that happens or occurs, but is not sought after. Perhaps luck or fate could be attributed to the concept. Exaptation is one that I learned about during the research for this assignment. While I understand how evolution ties into organisms developing advantageous and adaptive natural traits as a result of its environment, I never knew the word.
References
Ban T. (2006). The role of serendipity in drug discovery. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 8(3), 335–344.
https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2006.8.3/tban
Common Descent. (2020, January 11). Episode 78 – Exaptation.
https://commondescentpodcast.com/2020/01/11/episode-78-exaptation/
McFadden, C. (2020, March 4). 15 Accidental Science Discoveries That Changed the World. Interesting
Engineering. https://interestingengineering.com/science/15-accidental-science-discoveries-that-changed-the-world
Parry, W. (2013, September 4). Evolution as Opportunist. Quanta Magazine.
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