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While "An iGEM of an idea" points out that it takes an average age of 42+ to win one's first NIH grant,1 Richard Gallagher goes on to describe how to engage and motivate young students in science, but misses the point: The reason most students who are able and interested in science do not go into the field is because they correctly perceive the poor quality of professional life science offers.

I do not wish to disparage iGEM by any means. The problem with science careers is that they are increasingly restricted to those who can afford to live at financial levels below those in business, law, and medicine, and who are immune to a life of rejection (1 in 20 NIH grant proposals are funded). We'll have more scientists (and similarly, K-12 teachers, by the way) if the career opportunities for them are improved so that those candidates who ...