Stem cells fatigue?
The graph above depicts the trend in US Google searches for the phrase "stem cells" over the last 3.5 years. An annotated graph and a little discussion follow the jump.
OK, here's that graph again with a few points highlighted:
A: It looks like search interest for stem cells peaked right before the 2004 elections. That's probably not surprising given how hyped the issue was during that year's presidential race.
B 1,2,3: In what seems to be a recurring pattern, interest in stem cells dips considerably right at the end of the last three years.
C: The latest point on the graph is also just about the lowest. In fact, the end of June does represent the lowest point if you take out the end of year dips (and even two of those don't register as low as this past June).
Google Trends can also lists the top cities for a selected search. Here's the top-5 for the last three-plus years:
1. Baltimore, MD
2. Boston, MA
3. Pittsburgh, PA
4. Philadelphia, PA
5. St Louis, MO
No real surprises there. And if you're wondering about San Diego and all its biotech firms, it ranked No. 8.
With the presidential cycle cranking up again, it'll be interesting to see if stem cell searches also swing upward. The lack of attention in the interim might not be such a bad thing, though. Having a whole nation waiting in the hallway outside the lab asking every so often if you're done yet wouldn't seem to create a productive research atmosphere.
Caveats: Google doesn't provide a frame of reference for the search results, so we're not sure what the scale is for the Y axis in these graphs. Also, Google states that these graphs are estimations of search data and contain a certain number of approximations.
-Greg Dahlmann
graphs: Google Trends
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Fascinating data, Greg. The year-end slump is consistent with web traffic in general, however. December is not an information-surfing month it's an e-commerce month.
- by klb8s on Jul 31, 2007 at 9:01 AM | link
That's a good point, klb8s. It is kind of amazing to see how totally our attention shifts to shopping (or eggnog or whatever) at that time of each year.
I did some checking for a few other terms that pop up often in bioethics to see if they experience a similar drop. cloning, transgenic and IVF all show end-of-year dips in search volume.
- by Greg on Jul 31, 2007 at 9:45 AM | link