Increasing the Tribe: 1

The Oct. 15 commentary1 by T.V. Rajan was a delight to read and a pleasure to think about. Let me extend your metaphor a little. Some years ago, I too was a researcher at the University of Connecticut Health Center. I was then engaged in research in a field even more obscure and recondite than Demodex folliculorum. I was trying to analyze the volatile organic compounds in human breath, first, because it seemed like a challenging and enjoyable thing to do, and second, (somewhat perversely) becaus

Written byMichael Phillips

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Well, guess what? The research paid off, and all that "useless" investment in basic knowledge has now burgeoned into a promising new diagnostic test for the early detection of diseases such as lung cancer, well-funded by the National Institutes of Health, with the possibility of saving many lives that might otherwise have been lost.

I now believe that there is no such thing as "useless" research. Who knows where even the most unpromising new pathway may lead? And those who seek to know more of the obscure branches of knowledge, Demodex folliculorum or even the volatile organic compounds in human breath, may yet find their names amongst those that "...led all the rest." Not just for the love of learning, but for the totally unexpected and astonishing benefits that they bring to their fellow men.

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