Predatory snails, glowing bacteria, and bad-smelling mosquitoes probably don't make you think "medical breakthroughs!" The list is from the realm of basic research, which has been compared to shooting an arrow into the sky and then painting a target where it lands. It's easy to lampoon basic research. In a culture of ultra-this and cutting-edge-that, "basic" sounds cheap. Of course, in the case of research "basic" means fundamental. Most science teachers are deeply curious about the natural world and can appreciate scientists driven to explore seemingly obscure corners of life. The general public, however, doesn't necessarily appreciate the value of curiosity-driven research that has a high chance of failure. If forced to make a choice on how tax dollars are to be spent, most people would go for applied research. So how is it that the lion's share of research supported by the U.S. Government's National Institutes of Health (NIH)...

You do not currently have access to this content.