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148 CAREER ADVICE FOR LIFE SCIENTISTS II

Great Expectations or

Realistic Expectations?

Harvey F. Lodish

Whitehead Institute for

Biomedical Research

R

esearch scientists must help our elected represen-

tatives help them. They must share anecdotes

about how basic NIH-supported research on cul-

tured mammalian cells and on model organisms such

as yeasts and worms have led to major insights into

human health. They must continue to advocate for

Federal support for important biomedical research

such as on human embryonic stem (ES) cells that will

lead to advances in human health and new treatments

for human disease.

What is more difficult to explain to elected represen-

tatives—and to the public at large—is the slow yet

determined process by which science advances, and

the multitude of steps that must intervene before a new

drug or a new therapy can be released to the public. It

is all too easy to suggest that practical applications will

come immediately and to underrepresent the underly-

ing basic science required.

Few nonscientists realize the slow pace of basic sci-

ence and many are understandably impatient to have

practical applications. When interested laypeople

have a direct interest for themselves or for loved ones

in a “breakthrough,” the belief that a cure is imminent

can be particularly intense. Sometimes this optimism

When laypeople have a direct interest

for themselves or for loved ones in a

“breakthrough,” the belief that a cure is

imminent can be particularly intense.

Sometimes this optimism can be

exploited for political reasons—

remember Nixon’s “War on Cancer?”