Supporting multiple approaches to a given problem at the same time increases the chance of finding a solution; it also increases opportunities for cooperation or constructive competition.17 The challenge to policymakers is to encourage experimentation and a greater diversity of approaches while simultaneously ensuring that an effective peerreview process is in place to guide funding toward high-quality science.18 However it is channeled, government support for innovation and R&D will be more effective if it is thought of as a long-run investment.
Gestation lags from basic research to commercial application to the ultimate economic benefits can be very long. The Internet revolution of the 1990s was based on scientific investments made in the 1970s and 1980s. And today’s widespread commercialization of biotechnology was based, in part, on key research findings developed in the 1950s.