

The $8 an hour shuttle driver behind a Nobel Prize - troystribling
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10069835-71.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

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brfox
Here is the shuttle driver's (Prasher) original publication:
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1347277> (which is the first GFP
publication)

Here's a Science article 2 years later (with Prasher and one of the actual
Nobel Prize winners - Chalfie): <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8303295>

And another in that same year with Prasher and a different prize winner
(Tsien): <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7809066>

...crazy... why didn't Prasher get it too?

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timr
This sort of thing is irritatingly common when it comes to major scientific
prizes (the most infamous example being that of Rosalind Franklin, whose
research was _probably_ stolen by Watson and Crick).

Frustrating as that kind of oversight may be, I think it's a far greater
problem that a talented scientist is driving a shuttle bus to avoid
unemployment.

We clearly have a shortage of scientists in America -- let's train more!

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noonespecial
_"It was more important to me to hand over the tool to other scientists with
the funding than to have individual glory," Prasher told London's Daily Mail._

Wow. Honest to goodness nobility. Don't see that every day.

Perhaps he's driving a bus not because he's not worthy of us, but because
we're not worthy of him.

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jessep
this is a crushingly sad story.

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kenver
It's a shame he didn't get some official recognition, but he willingly sent
his work to these guys.

He's obviously one of the few people around who cares more about helping
people than money. He's got the respect of his peers, which in academia is
probably one of the main things you strive for.

I'm sure he would have been greatful for few quid though!

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andreyf
Seems as if something is missing... why couldn't he find a "scientific
position" after 2006?

~~~
tortilla
I think he probably couldn't move due to him taking out a large mortgage
prior. He's most likely underwater and there aren't too many scientific jobs
in Alabama?

~~~
rsheridan6
Better to be foreclosed on than work as a shuttle bus driver if other options
are available.

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mhb
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=335127>

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pageman
if it's any consolation, Prasher can take a page out of Garrett Lisi's
playbook and get grants from new institutions who would be willing to fund
someone like him now that his name is out.

