When I started my career as a biochemist, after receiving my doctorate in 1974, the word ‘biotechnology’ was virtually unknown and the words ‘exciting results’ and ‘patent application’ were rarely heard in the same sentence. Few scientists everanticipated that they would receive anything other than a relatively modest salary in return for years spent in the laboratory. However, much has changed in recent decades and, for some researchers, scientific achievement has led to lucrative jobs in biotechnology and affiliated industries and to patents that have had successful commercial applications.
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