The Unforeseen Benefits of Curiosity-Driven Research
The Benefits of Curiosity-Driven Research
It was only a few years ago when everyone around the country and world learned about the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), as it was a common method for testing for SARS-CoV-2 infections. Despite this, PCR has been around for decades and serves important roles in our society. This technique serves as one of the most fundamental tools in molecular biology, allowing researchers to answer a myriad of questions. It even helps the criminal justice system by allowing forensic scientists to determine genetic matches from samples and suspects.
These far-reaching applications were likely not the goal of Thomas Brock and Hudson Freeze when they conducted their original microbiology research. Their work was driven primarily by a curiosity about life existing in extreme conditions, rather than any immediate technological invention. Nevertheless, it was that basic research that led to the identification of a heat-stable DNA polymerase from thermophilic organisms, which ultimately made PCR possible (Marshall, 2025).
This example highlights both the greatest strength and one of the harshest challenges of curiosity-driven science; the outcomes are unpredictable. In some cases, this research may lead to major breakthroughs that reshape entire fields of science and leave lasting impacts on society. In other cases, this research may produce no clear outcomes, consistent follow-up, or produce obvious technologies.
This uncertainty of the outcomes of basic or fundamental research can make it a riskier investment. As a result, the government has often served as the primary funder of basic plant research, especially in those areas that are perceived to have lower commercial value (Clancy, 2017). As research funding becomes more limited and competitive, it may be tempting to focus on projects with perceived practical value or a high likelihood of quick results. This, as a result, could lead to a decrease in curiosity-driven research and the foundational discoveries associated with it (CHAKRADHAR, 2012). To highlight the importance of basic research, we share a few examples related to plant science that started as basic investigations and went on to have profound impacts.
From Bacterial Genomes To Sweeter Tomatoes
Although not originally discovered in plants, Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) has become one of the most transformative tools in modern genetic engineering and has revolutionized plant science. It provides a robust method for gene editing that has been widely adopted across laboratories, allowing for the massive increase in functional genomic studies in plants (Cardi et al., 2023). Despite its clear use today, it started as a seemingly minor and unexplained genomic feature observed 40 years ago.
The first observations of CRISPR-like sequences came in 1987, when researchers in Japan were studying E. coli (Ishino et al., 1987). The researchers were specifically looking at the iap gene, which encodes an aminopeptidase. However, they also described a fragment of DNA that exhibits what resembles a CRISPR structure. Around 8 years later, Francisco Mojica found similar CRISPR loci in an archaeal genome,
suggesting an evolutionary purpose to this sequence motif that was selected for (Mojica et al., 1993). Further work by a host of other labs across the globe established a solid understanding of CRISPR loci as a form of adaptive bacterial immunity to combat bacteriophages. Additionally, this research identified that these systems target the DNA, not RNA, and the mode of action for this targeting. Later mechanistic studies showed that CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins, particularly Cas9, can be programmed to target specific DNA sequences, enabling precise genome editing. This foundational work ultimately led to the near-simultaneous publications of five papers, all reporting on genetically modifying eukaryotic genomes. This includes the genomes of human cells and zebrafish germline cells (Gostimskaya, 2022).
Today, CRISPR technologies are a prominent feature of many molecular experiments in plants. Almost 120 plant species have successfully had their genomes edited using Cas9, leading to a major increase in applied research with obvious implications (Cardi et al., 2023). For example, researchers in China recently used Cas9 to knock out a gene in tomato to increase the sweetness of the fruit in a way that is perceptible to human taste without incurring any growth penalty (Zhang et al., 2024).
Agrobacterium: Plant Pathogen To Human Tool
One of the main methods in which we can generate transgenic plants for study or consumption is through Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer. This technique requires a special genus of bacteria, Agrobacterium, which can integrate a portion of its DNA into plant genomes. However, this remarkable ability and utility in generating transgenic plants were not known when researchers first began investigating this genus over 100 years ago.
Studies into Agrobacterium started as an attempt to answer a basic question: what causes crown gall disease? This disease can cause abnormal, woody tumors (galls) to grow on plants and can disrupt the flow of nutrients and water within the plant. Agrobacterium was first identified and investigated in 1904, when researchers isolated it from infected plants (Nester, 2015). Over time, our understanding of how this bacterium causes crown gall disease slowly developed through a collaborative and iterative process. Some of these proved to be key discoveries in Agrobacterium’s future use in generating transgenic plants, while others did not. For example, the discovery of a massive plasmid in Agrobacterium that was required for gall formations in plants ultimately led researchers to search for and find plasmid DNA in infected plants (Kado, 2014). Over time, the exact mechanisms underlying this process were discovered and this information was used to make a system for plant genetic engineering (Caplan et al., 1983).
What started out as a simple question over 100 years ago about what caused an interesting plant disease ultimately resulted in the development of one of the most common ways to generate transgenic plants. For example, Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer has been used to generate many independent lines of transgenic plants, which can be used in forward genetic screens. Additionally, specific genes can be inserted into a plant genome for reverse genetic screens aimed at elucidating the function(s) of a desired target (Page & Grossniklaus, 2002).
How Do Carrots Connect To Your Television?
There is a good chance that you are reading this article through an LCD screen, which is the same core technology as many displays, including modern televisions. Such thin screens are largely possible due to the liquid crystals that are used to generate them. The discovery of liquid crystals traces back to the 19th century when Friedrich Reinitzer and Otto Lehmann were investigating natural substances from carrots (Marshall, 2025). In 1888, Reinitzer was looking at cholesterol-related compounds isolated from carrots when he came across an interesting observation: some substances contained two different melting points. Specifically, cholesteryl benzoate melted into a cloudy liquid at 145.5˚ C, and became clear at 178.5˚ C. To confirm these results and learn more about this substance, Reinitzer collaborated with Lehmann. Their work together led to the first characterization of what they termed liquid crystals, which are a unique form of matter. Although further research into liquid crystals did continue, it was largely dropped until around the 1950s. This was, in part, due to the controversy of a “living crystal”, as well as a lack of perceived utility in such discoveries. Nevertheless, George Heilmeier was able to utilize the electro-optic properties of liquid crystals to develop the first full liquid crystal displays in 1968 (Geelhaar et al., 2013).
Since then, liquid crystal technology has become central to modern display systems, appearing in televisions, computer monitors, smartphones, and even watches. What started as an interesting observation in carrot-derived compounds over 100 years ago became a ubiquitous part of the technology of our modern world.
How Maize Genetics Impacts Human Health
Transposons, also known as transposable elements or “jumping genes,” are now recognized as widespread components of virtually all genomes, occurring in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes in high numbers. In fact, as much as 90% of the maize genome and 50% of the human genome are made up of these transposable elements (Pray, 2008). By understanding transposable elements, we have been able to develop our understanding of genome structures and evolution, gene regulation, and create new technologies with therapeutic applications in humans. Remarkably, such an important discovery takes place in an unexpected place: the pigmentation of maize kernels.
During the mid-20th century, Barbara McClintock began investigating maize through cytogenetic techniques. Over time, these methods became precise enough to differentiate all 10 chromosomes in maize. Armed with these tools, she began investigating the “unstable mutation” that produced surprising color mosaics in kernels (Ravindran, 2012). She noticed that an area on chromosome 9 was prone to breakage events. She labelled this region the “dissociation” (Ds) locus and found that kernels with mosaic coloring resulted from a chromosomal break at this location. Later experiments also identified the Activator (Ac) loci, which was required for the chromosome breakage that produced the previously
observed mosaic pattern. Investigating the Ds/Ac system, she found that it is also possible for the Ds locus to be inserted in different parts of the genome. In the 1980s, these loci were isolated and the Ac locus was found to be a transposon that encoded a transposase enzyme, and the Ds locus was a truncated version of Ac missing the transposase (Pray & Zhaurova, 2008).
What started as a focused examination of some peculiar pigmentation in corn has produced foundational knowledge regarding a key part of the genome. Today, research has identified transposable elements as key elements in shaping genomic architecture, sources of genetic variation, and regulators of gene expression. Additionally, there are multiple technologies with meaningful utility that utilize transposons, such as Sleeping Beauty, which can be used to study cancer or as a gene therapy application (Izsvák & Ivics, 2004).
A Case For Curiosity-Driven Research
Many of the most influential research tools and technologies in use today are rooted in fundamental investigations aimed at understanding broad biological and physical principles. In many cases, the path from initial experimentation to the final products we know today can be quite a long and non-linear process, with no clear signs of the massive applications they will have in the future. However, the continued research, sustained by the curiosity of scientists who simply want to understand the world, produced an understanding of the natural world that allowed for these important technologies to be created.
For this reason, maintaining strong support for basic research is not a speculative investment in unknown outcomes, but a time-proven strategy to allow for long-term progress.
References:
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About the Author
Reed Arneson
Reed is a Ph.D, candidate at the College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science at Michigan Technological University, and a 2026 Plantae Fellow. His research focuses on functional genetics in Populus plants to develop a greater understanding of tree stress response. You can find him X: @Reed_Arneson.
