Also called basic, fundamental, or bench research, basic science involves pre-clinical research (research not performed in humans) that focuses on the fundamental building blocks of life, such as cells, organelles, amino acids or genes. Basic science also includes research in animals, such as examining outcomes of certain exposures, testing a potential drug, or exploring a physiological pathway. Basic science studies are critically important to new discoveries since they often uncover biological targets for new drugs, for example, or identify the causal mechanisms behind physiological processes, but they don’t have an immediate practical application. For this reason, reporters should take great care communicating the preliminary nature of basic scientific findings to the public.
