The money invested in science and research is well spent because it helps improve things and make better products, Nobel laureate Oliver Smithies who was co-winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology in October 8, 2007, said here today.
"I think the more you put in, the more you get out. The return on investment in science in research is very high. If you ask yourself, for example, why is the Boeing company is doing so well, the answer is because it did research," he told reporters here today where he attended the 26th Foundation Day celebrations of the CSIR Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB).
"Companies investing in research do better. Countries that invest in research do better. You can do a new thing, you can find a new product, you can market it or you can help people better. If you don't do research, you have to wait for somebody else. So, it is very well spent money," he said.
Smithies, who was born in England in 1925, asked youngsters to do what they love to do for excellence in the area.
When asked about the benefits of human genome sequencing since 2003 when it was completed, he said genetic sequencing helped understand about diseases and why some people are susceptible to some of diseases.
"The benefit is enormous increase in understanding. You have to realise that in order to treat anything that is wrong with a person, you have to know why and what is wrong. Genetic sequencing helps us understand more of things that make some of us susceptible to high blood pressure, and why some of us are not. We are beginning to understand things, but there is a long way to go," he said.
