No one may have the guts to say this, but if we could make better human beings by knowing how to add genes, why shouldn't we?
James D. WatsonRead
At lunch Francis [Crick] winged into the Eagle to tell everyone within hearing distance that we had found the secret of life.
Interpretation
The quote celebrates the discovery of the fundamental essence of life, highlighting a significant scientific breakthrough.
James D. Watson's quote reflects the excitement and significance of a monumental discovery in biology: the structure of DNA, which is often referred to as the 'secret of life.' This discovery not only revolutionized our understanding of genetics but also underscored the collaborative nature of scientific inquiry, as Watson shares this momentous news with his colleagues with enthusiasm.
In practice
In a speech about scientific breakthroughs, one could quote this to highlight a pivotal moment in understanding life.
No one may have the guts to say this, but if we could make better human beings by knowing how to add genes, why shouldn't we?
I think the reason people are dealing with science less well now than 50 years ago is that it has become so complicated.
Polls consistently show that the majority of Americans favour research using embryonic stem cells and yet politicians continue to pander to the outspoken religious minority that is hampering efforts to develop this potentially valuable technology.
DNA was my only gold rush. I regarded DNA as worth a gold rush.
Science has always been my preoccupation and when you think a breakthrough is possible, it is terribly exciting.
If you go into science, I think you better go in with a dream that maybe you, too, will get a Nobel Prize. It's not that I went in and I thought I was very bright and I was going to get one, but I'll confess, you know, I knew what it was.
I think of the brain as a computational device: It has a bunch of little components that perform calculations on some small aspect of the problem, and another part of the brain has to stitch it all together, like a tapestry or a quilt.
Very many maintain that all we know is still infinitely less than all that still remains unknown.
The brain of man, like that of all animals is double, being parted down its centre by a thin membrane. For this reason pain is not always felt in the same part of the head, but sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other, and occasionally all over.
Our task now is to resynthesize biology; put the organism back into its environment; connect it again to its evolutionary past; and let us feel that complex flow that is organism, evolution, and environment united. The time has come for biology to enter the nonlinear world.
Chemistry is necessarily an experimental science: its conclusions are drawn from data, and its principles supported by evidence from facts.
The solar system should be viewed as our backyard, not as some sequence of destinations that we do one at a time.
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