The development and marketing of the home refrigerator provides a good example. While the gas absorption had no moving parts and was silent as a result, th e electric one had a motor which was being manufactured by companies in the United States. Furthermore, motors use electricity and this was advantageous for the utility companies. In the end, the gas absorption refrigerator is found in Europe, having been squeezed out of the market in the United States.
Technology is value laden.
With knowledge comes responsibility. The history of the human genome project predicts we will determine the genetic causes of human disease long before treatment is available, even though these diseases are fundamental to current problems in society. Some estimates are as long as fifty years between treatment or cure options and elucidation of the causes. The economic costs to individuals and society is enormous for some diseases and the pressure to somehow reduce the burden is rapidly increasing. The sense that objective insight is gained through detachment is a hallmark of the scientific process.