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.

When I was in high school, I became interested in cytochemistry: chemical analysis under the microscope, and trying to understand the composition of cells.

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

Being successful at a very young age gave me the confidence and the capability to try out other things.

By the time I was 12 or 13, I was studying biochemistry textbooks.

So many of the things I've predicted were technologies that were just sitting right in front of us.

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.