I would go further and say that any scientific topic which has any controversy is &quot;political&quot; by definition. Furthermore, the political dogmas that are held by laypeople almost universally depend on empirical or scientific facts which have not been established or have the imminent potential to be overturned. Political bias has an effect on what research gets funded and&#x2F;or published, the size of which is correlated to the &quot;softness&quot; of the discipline.