The Rest Is Money 132. Why Britain Isn’t A “Science Superpower”
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Jan 23, 2025 
In a compelling discussion, Sir Paul Nurse, a Nobel Prize-winning biochemist and director of the Francis Crick Institute, unpacks the UK’s scientific landscape. He critiques the country’s struggles to attract talent, hindered by high visa costs and poor funding support. Nurse contrasts the UK's pure discovery strengths with its failures in commercial application, while advocating for systemic reforms. He also shares a heartfelt personal journey about discovering his biological roots and reflects on the interplay between AI and human creativity in advancing science.
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Science's Importance
- Science drives economic growth, public services, health, and quality of life.
- Divide science into discovery, translation, and application to understand its impact.
UK Science Strengths and Weaknesses
- Britain excels at discovery science but its future excellence is fragile due to lack of government recognition.
- Complacency about past successes hinders focus on translation and application.
UK's Risk Aversion
- The UK's risk-averse investment culture hinders translating scientific discoveries into profitable applications.
- This leaves the UK vulnerable to US buyouts, losing potential economic benefits and job growth.