[LUM#1] Citizen science, a counterculture on the rise

[LUM Magazine] - Published on December 22, 2015 in Science-Society

Willingly independent and based on the involvement of volunteer citizens, "citizen science" is not afraid to call itself revolutionary. Nor is it afraid to stir up controversy...

While participatory science is fully integrated into an institutional framework—programs defined by researchers, for researchers—citizen science demands a separate status. "It asserts the existence of knowledge outside the walls, challenges the established order of academic research, and questions the legitimacy of knowledge," explains Vincent Devictor, ecologist and philosopher.

Their credo: refuse to allow knowledge to be confiscated by institutions. " Supporters of citizen science are inventing new ways of organizing themselves, in a much more participatory, non-hierarchical manner," explains Guillaume Bagnolini, philosopher of science. " The scientific method remains the same, but the mode of governance is changing to adopt an associative model. This is unprecedented in the history of science."

Open-source biology

In practice? Citizen science enthusiasts organize themselves into community laboratories where everyone brings their own research projects. Among them are science enthusiasts, knowledgeable amateurs, and researchers. "Some people get involved in these alternative labs because they don't entirely agree with the way research is conducted, "explains Guillaume Bagnolini. Many of them are particularly interested in biohacking, "a movement that aims to make scientific data related to biology available to everyone."

This is a field where citizen science is often considered "garage biology." "People use recycled materials and improvised methods," explains Guillaume Bagnolini. "You find the worst, but also the best! Because sometimes, superb projects emerge," adds Vincent Devictor. From biological ink to affordable malaria detectors and green batteries, the innovations coming out of community labs might not have been invented anywhere else...

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