An ode to imagination

摘要

Is science about obsessing over one tiny daub of paint? Or is it about standing back and appreciating the entire picture? At the poster session of a recent meeting,I was chatting with an engaging young woman about her research(the particulars have been changed to obscure this persons identity).It was all very impressive,but in one of those oblique flashes that sometimes hit,I saw a link to another related disease.I suggested that she consider exploring it.”If your protein is involved in that other pathway,”I said,”it could tell you a lot about your own.”The woman smiled sadly.”I actually wanted to do that,but my boss said no."“Why?”