Science Quote by Paul Nurse

Paul Nurse’s line does something scientists are often asked to do in public: justify curiosity. It’s a defense of basic research dressed in civic language, built on a careful “not only... but also” that gives two audiences what they want. The first clause flatters the humanistic ideal - knowledge makes us bigger than our appetites. The second clause speaks to the budget committee: knowledge pays.

The intent is pragmatic, but the subtext is political. “Harnessed” signals a world where discovery isn’t enough; it must be converted into utility, preferably on a timeline that matches grant cycles and public impatience. “Better good” (almost certainly meant as “greater good”) is a revealing slip: the rhetoric of science communication often borrows moral vocabulary without naming the messy trade-offs. Better for whom, and at what cost? What counts as “improved health” when gains can be unevenly distributed, when “quality of life” might mean longevity for some and surveillance, pricing, or inequity for others?

Context matters: Nurse, a Nobel-winning biologist and prominent science administrator, has spent decades translating lab work into institutional legitimacy. This quote sits squarely in the post-genomics, post-pandemic world where trust in expertise is contested and research funding is perpetually on trial. Its power is in its coalition-building. It refuses the false choice between wonder and usefulness, arguing that the same deeper understanding that enriches our inner lives can also show up as vaccines, therapies, and longer, better days.