Date Time Study finds pretty plants hog research and conservation limelight New Curtin University research has found a ‘beauty bias’ may be holding science back. The study revealed a tendency among scientists to choose colourful and visually striking plants for scientific study, which then benefit from subsequent conservation efforts, regardless of their ecological importance. The mountain Gentian (Gentiana nivalis) is a striking alpine species that is topical and well studied. Co-author John Curtin Distinguished Professor Kingsley Dixon from Curtin’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences was part of an international team that looked for evidence of an aesthetic bias among scientists by analysing 113 plant species found in global biodiversity hotspot the Southwestern Alps and mentioned in 280 research papers published between 1975 and 2020.