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TK (Takashi DY) Kozai
@bioniclab.bsky.social

🪼 Your tax dollars paid a scientist to squeeze jellyfish through cheesecloth. Osamu Shimomura processed tens of thousands on an NSF grant to understand why they glow. He found a protein that glowed green under UV light. Called it "green protein." Nobody cared. For decades.

TK (Takashi DY) Kozai
@bioniclab.bsky.social

Douglas Prasher's story is worth knowing. He cloned the GFP gene and shared it freely w/ Chalfie & Tsien, but his own NIH funding ran out before he could finish the work. He left science entirely and was driving a courtesy shuttle in Huntsville, Al when the Nobel was announced.

2 reposts12 likes

TK (Takashi DY) Kozai
@bioniclab.bsky.social

This happens more than people realize, because science is cumulative and the Nobel limits each prize to 3 recipients. Decades of foundational contributions get compressed into 3 names. Chalfie and Tsien both acknowledged that the prize depended on Prasher's work, & Chalfie invited him to Stockholm.

TK (Takashi DY) Kozai
@bioniclab.bsky.social

But the part that should keep PIs up at night isn't the Nobel's structure, it's that Prasher's science was right, his generosity was extraordinary, and the funding system STILL FAILED him. That is EXACTLY the pipeline vulnerability this series is about.