H. Robert Horvitz Quotes

The work I was involved in had no obvious therapeutic benefit. It was purely of scientific interest. I hope the country will continue to support basic research even though it may have no obvious practical value.

No matter how counter-intuitive it may seem, basic research has proven over and over to be the lifeline of practical advances in medicine.

If you don't invest in basic research at some stage you start losing the basis of applied research.

In these days when science is clearly in the saddle and when our knowledge of disease is advancing at a breathless pace, we are apt to forget that not all can ride and that he also serves who waits and who applies what the horseman discovers.

It is particularly pleasing to see how purely basic research, originally aimed at testing the genetic identity of different cell types in the body, has turned out to have clear human health prospects.

I have developed a unique way of looking at the relationship of the human body to health and disease.

My fascination is broadly with biology and the fact that our increased understanding of biology allows for breakthroughs in a broad set of diseases.

In Wisconsin, We're at the forefront of research that might one day bring cures for diseases like Parkinsons and Alzheimers, and we must seize its great potential.

If our society continues to support basic research on how living organisms function, it is likely that my great grandchildren will be spared the agony of losing family members to most types of cancer.

Stem cells have the potential to be used to treat and better understand some of the world's most deadly and disabling diseases.

Price is rarely the most important thing. A cheap product might sell some units. Somebody gets it home and they feel great when they pay the money, but then they get it home and use it and the joy is gone.

When people say that college isn't worthwhile and paying all this money isn't worthwhile, I really disagree. I think those experiences and those classes that may not necessarily seem applicable in the moment end up coming back to you time and time again.

Whilst worthy in themselves, applications shouldn't be the only way to drive basic research.

The diseases of the present have little in common with the diseases of the past save that we die of them.

In an ideal world, the amount of money we spend on medical research to prevent or cure a disease would be proportional to its seriousness and the number of people who suffer from it.

Some people might say, 'Can we afford it?' I think that's asking the wrong question... We should instead be asking, 'Can we really afford not to try?'

Investigating rare diseases gives researchers more clues about how the healthy immune system functions.

An important fraction of United States industry adheres to the idea that research of a fundamental character is worthwhile from a practical point of view.

Bioscience and biotech offer many opportunities. The U.S. focuses on the rich man; India has rich man diseases and poor man diseases. So you have a much larger set of opportunities.

I fight AIDS because it's a killer disease, destroys the human race in all fields.

There is no difference between fundamental research and applied research. Although this is my view, based on personal taste and the areas I have worked in, it is not necessarily true for others.

You make a great investment in the consumer Internet, maybe you make a lot of money and create something useful, interesting, or fun. But in life sciences, you have a chance to be part of something that lets people live longer and healthier and not lose the people they care about. That is really profound.

Personally, I attach great importance to research in fundamental sciences because I believe that no applied or developmental research can do without basic research as the wellspring and driving force. But, in this world of ours, often because of material gains and immediate interests, it is easy to neglect basic research. This should be avoided.

The research I have been doing - studying how foodstuffs yield energy in living cells - does not lead to the kind of knowledge that can be expected to give immediate practical benefits to mankind. If I have chosen this field of study, it was because I believed in its importance in spite of its theoretical character.

For me, the discovery of aquaporins was like a gift after 25 years in basic science.