What attracted me to immunology was that the whole thing seemed to revolve around a very simple experiment: take two different antibody molecules and compare their primary sequences. The secret of antibody diversity would emerge from that. Fortunately at the time I was sufficiently ignorant of the subject not to realise how naive I was being.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the simplicity and curiosity that drive scientific discovery, particularly in immunology.
Cesar Milstein expresses his initial attraction to the field of immunology through the lens of a straightforward experiment involving antibody molecules. His journey into exploring the complexities of antibody diversity was fueled by his innocent lack of awareness about the challenges within the subject, emphasizing the importance of curiosity and the willingness to learn in the scientific process.
In practice
In a lecture on immunology, this quote can be used to inspire students about the inquiry-based nature of science.
Although the way ahead [for immunology] is full of pitfalls and difficulties, this is indeed an exhilarating prospect. There is no danger of a shortage of forthcoming excitement in the subject. Yet, as always, the highlights of tomorrow are the unpredictabilities of today.
And yet in a funny way our lack of success led to our breakthrough; because, since we could not get a cell line off the shelf doing what we wanted, we were forced to construct it. And the original experiment ... developed into a method for the production of hybridomas ... [which] was of more importance than our original purpose.
This investigation has yielded an unanticipated result that reaction of cyanic acid with ammonia gives urea, a noteworthy result in as much as it provides an example of the artificial production of an organic, indeed a so-called animal, substance from inorganic substances.
It may be well to wait a century for a reader, as God has waited six thousand years for an observer.
It remains an astonishing, disturbing fact that in America - a nation where nearly every new drug is subjected to rigorous scrutiny as a potential carcinogen, and even the bare hint of a substance's link to cancer ignites a firestorm of public hysteria and media anxiety - one of the most potent and common carcinogens known to humans can be freely bought and sold at every corner store for a few dollars.
To move forward, what's required is a unified space agenda based on exploration, science, development, commerce, and security.
Language is only the instrument of science, and words are but the signs of ideas.
It is the first duty of a hypothesis to be intelligible.
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