Lying is the great enemy of any communal search for the truth. Those who would lie pose a severe threat to the scientific community. The most important aspects of the training of young scientists in graduate school are the elimination of the habit of lying to oneself and the discovery of any tendency to lie to others. That community may judge you uninspired, even incompetent, and allow you to remain in its ranks. But if you are judged to have been dishonest about scientific data, your research career is over.
Judgment is merciless and unbending.
Given the magnitude of the punishment, imagine the response of a scientist to an accusation by an attorney that he is lying. It generates more than hurt feelings. It is a breathtaking accusation, akin to charging a clergyman with breaking his vows or a military officer with treason. These differences in epistemology apply to all kinds of scientists, but biologists are a breed apart even within scientific ranks. Take away the effects of a scientific education, and there remains among biologists a substantial residual misunderstanding of what their proper social role should be.