My ambitions were already very clearly fixed by the time I was 6 or 7.

I hope I've lived a life of science whose style will encourage younger people.

Although I am a public figure, I'm still a little shy. I don't think my own personality is important. I prefer to keep some small dosage of privacy.

I get curious about new things. My real strength is going into a field that has not been investigated before, and finding new approaches to it.

I have many shortcomings. I feel very lucky to have been able to have what I've had.

If you wanted to dissect the structure of living cells, genetic analysis was an extremely powerful method, so my interest turned to that.

I think we have to believe we are here for some purpose, and I know there are many cynics who will deny it, but they don't live as if they deny it.