Basic research: bizarre but essential

Woodgett, Jim

doi:10.1038/467400b

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Published: 22 September 2010

Basic research: bizarre but essential

Jim Woodgett¹

Nature volume 467, page 400 (2010)Cite this article

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Using terminology that tries to satisfy political masters as well as the research endeavour can be risky (Nature 466, 922–923; 2010). Part of the reduction in usage of the term 'basic research' is probably due to the emergence of 'translational research', which puts new knowledge to practical use. As a result, basic scientists have popularized the term 'discovery research'. But all types of research are important.

Research is a pipeline for ideas that occasionally sprout into useful applications for generating wealth, which in turn helps to support more investment in discovery. This process has been examined to death but is unpredictable by its very nature. All we can do is ensure that the best quality is achieved at every level, and that we do not inadvertently limit the resources and ideas of those who practise this bizarre but essential driver of progress.

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Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Toronto, Canada
Jim Woodgett

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Jim Woodgett
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Woodgett, J. Basic research: bizarre but essential. Nature 467, 400 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/467400b

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Published: 22 September 2010
Issue date: 23 September 2010
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/467400b

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Wesley Button 23 September 2010, 17:29

Actually we can stop giving grants to 70 year old professors to study the protonation state of some enzyme that has already been studied to death for the last 50 years.
Jeremy Green 10 November 2010, 05:06

Speaking of terminological alternatives to "basic research", I recommend the example of my PhD supervisor Brian S. Hartley. He was a founder of Biogen and key member of government committees on biotechnology in the 1980s, so no slouch in the "translation" department. His term for what some would call basic research was "strategic applied research". Much of the discussion in this area rests upon the unspoken assumption that the rate-limiting step in getting useful science is between bench and bedside (or the equivalent in non-biomedical disciplines). While of course there are local bottlenecks at every stage of translation, I would guess that the most rate-limiting step is making discoveries that can be applied. In other words, between the world around us and our understanding of its complexities.