No, basic science is not feasible during residency. I am unsure if there are residencies which offer upwards of six months or so of research time but in most academic residencies it is not doable.
I've done case reports, a retrospective study, and a systematic review in residency so research and publishing certainly is doable, but for basic science you physically need hours of time in a lab running experiments, which simply cannot be done here.
Many fellowships, however, do allow allotted time for basic science research if you are interested.