Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2025

Designing Automated, High-throughput, Continuous Cell Growth Experiments Using eVOLVER
Published on: May 19, 2019
Serendipity in Science: 50+ Years of Designed, and Sometimes Lucky, Science
Carl Foster1, James Anholm2, Jos J de Koning3
1Department of Exercise and Sports Science, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, WI, USA.
Abstract:
Normal science is about assessing what is already known about a topic, about what needs to be known, and careful methods to collect the data required to answer the scientific question. It is the mainstay of scientific progress. But sometimes, luck or chance (eg, serendipity) plays a significant role in scientific process. We trace career experiences in our lives to show how serendipity, the gift that Mother Nature gives to science, has a nontrivial role in scientific progress and professional careers. This gift often encourages us to change the focus of experiments or to look for the answers to our questions in ways that were not immediately obvious.
Related Concept Videos
Hindsight Biases
Sanger Sequencing
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon...
Next-generation Sequencing
Next-Generation Sequencing Methods
Although all next-generation methods use different technologies, they all share a set of standard features....
Maxam-Gilbert Sequencing
Challenges of the Maxam-Gilbert Method
The...
Cause and Effect

