One often gets the impression from the world of Consensus Science that all human disease is beautifully understood, that new information is harmoniously added to enhance understanding and that certain knowledge is here and there tweaked to simply clarify a few loose ends.

Then these pesky monkey wrenches get thrown in to the mix. For example, it looks like an HIV vaccine doesn’t work, raising important questions about the precise unfolding of AIDS and subsequent illness. A recent trial...