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Our infinite monkey cage

July 3, 2019
 - Tim Hardman

We all have a responsibility to encourage young people to study science, lighting the fire of their enthusiasm and wonder. They are our future. Running during the summer, our Summer Internships offer high calibre students from different backgrounds the opportunity to experience work and life at Niche, and gain a valuable insight into the inner workings of the pharmaceutical industry. Operating in a contract research organisation environment, where 75% of all pharmaceutical research is conducted, our interns work alongside experienced professionals on live and interesting projects.

Reasons why we at Niche believe it’s important to support and motivate the next generation of biomedical scientists include:

Fostering Innovation and Discovery

  • New Ideas and Fresh Perspectives: Young scientists often bring fresh perspectives, creativity, and curiosity that can lead to groundbreaking discoveries. Encouraging them to pursue bold, innovative ideas can accelerate the development of new therapies, diagnostics, and medical technologies.
  • Advancing Knowledge: Biomedical science is constantly evolving. By encouraging young scientists, we ensure a continuous flow of research that pushes the boundaries of medical understanding, potentially leading to cures for diseases that currently have no treatment.

Addressing Global Health Challenges

  • Solving Emerging Health Issues: From pandemics to antibiotic resistance and chronic diseases, the world faces numerous health challenges. Encouraging young biomedical scientists equips the next generation with the skills and knowledge to address these critical global issues.
  • Equity in Health: Young scientists from diverse backgrounds can contribute to solutions tailored to the specific needs of underrepresented or marginalized populations, fostering health equity worldwide.

Ensuring Continuity in Research

  • Sustaining Scientific Progress: The current generation of senior biomedical researchers will eventually retire. Encouraging young talent ensures that there’s a strong pipeline of scientists ready to take up their mantle and continue the essential work in research and development.
  • Long-Term Investment: Supporting young biomedical scientists early in their careers leads to long-term dividends in scientific progress. Early encouragement builds the foundation for future breakthroughs in understanding diseases, human biology, and healthcare.

Driving Technological Advancements

  • Embracing Cutting-Edge Technologies: Young scientists tend to be more adaptable to emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, CRISPR, and big data analytics. Encouraging them enables faster adoption of these tools, which can enhance research efficiency and lead to faster medical advancements.
  • Interdisciplinary Innovation: Biomedical research increasingly overlaps with fields like engineering, computer science, and physics. Encouraging young biomedical scientists to explore interdisciplinary approaches can foster novel solutions to complex medical problems.

Enhancing Public Health and Disease Prevention

  • Researching Preventative Measures: Young scientists often focus on proactive approaches to healthcare, such as disease prevention, early detection, and public health strategies. Encouraging their work can shift healthcare from being reactive (treatment-focused) to preventive, reducing the burden on healthcare systems.
  • Addressing Lifestyle and Environmental Factors: Emerging researchers are increasingly interested in the impact of environmental, social, and lifestyle factors on health. Their work can contribute to better public health policies and programs aimed at improving overall population health.

Promoting Diversity in Science

  • Inclusion of Diverse Perspectives: Encouraging young biomedical scientists from different cultural, social, and economic backgrounds fosters a more inclusive research environment. Diversity leads to a wider range of ideas, perspectives, and research questions, which can result in more comprehensive and effective healthcare solutions.
  • Mentoring Underrepresented Groups: By encouraging and supporting young scientists from underrepresented communities, we can break down barriers in science and promote equity within the research workforce, leading to more inclusive healthcare solutions for diverse populations.

Boosting Economic Growth and Job Creation

  • Contributing to the Bioeconomy: Biomedical science is a driving force behind the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Encouraging young scientists ensures a steady pipeline of talent for these sectors, which fuels innovation, economic growth, and job creation.
  • Commercialising Research: Many young scientists have entrepreneurial ambitions, seeking to translate their discoveries into marketable products or therapies. By supporting them, we can foster a culture of innovation that benefits both healthcare and the economy.

Creating Future Leaders and Educators

  • Training the Next Generation: Today’s young biomedical scientists will be tomorrow’s leaders in academia, industry, and government. Encouraging them helps cultivate future mentors, educators, and policymakers who will shape the direction of science and healthcare.
  • Inspiring Future Generations: Encouraging young scientists creates a ripple effect—by being role models and mentors, they inspire even younger generations to pursue careers in science, ensuring the field remains vibrant and dynamic.

Enhancing Global Collaboration

  • International Research Networks: Biomedical research is increasingly collaborative and global. Encouraging young scientists to engage in international partnerships fosters the exchange of knowledge and resources, speeding up the development of global health solutions.
  • Addressing Global Health Disparities: Encouraging young biomedical scientists from low- and middle-income countries is essential for building research capacity in regions where health disparities are most acute. These scientists can develop locally relevant solutions to improve health outcomes in their communities.

Solving Ethical and Societal Challenges

Ethical Innovation: Biomedical research often raises complex ethical issues, such as gene editing, personalized medicine, and privacy in health data. Encouraging young scientists to engage with bioethics ensures that future research and innovation are guided by ethical considerations.

•Shaping Healthcare Policy: Young biomedical scientists have the potential to influence healthcare policy by contributing research that informs decisions about public health, funding, and medical regulations.

Encouraging young biomedical scientists is not only an investment in the future of science but also an investment in global health, economic development, and societal well-being. By providing them with the resources, mentorship, and opportunities they need, we can ensure that the next generation is well-prepared to tackle the complex health challenges of tomorrow and continue the legacy of scientific advancement. This year we had more applicants for our placements than usual. Rather than disappoint candidates, we decided to create an opportunity where a group of young people could come together to solve a unique problem currently facing the pharmaceutical industry – the challenge of reducing the time it takes to complete the research programmes required to register new drugs. We called the experience ‘The Infinite Monkey Cage Challenge’  – after the original proposition by Aristotle, not the Radio 4 series.

The infinite monkey theorem proposes that if a monkey hitting keys at random on a keyboard for an infinite amount of time it will end up with any given text (eventually), such as the complete works of William Shakespeare may appear (one day). The task we have set our interns may seem impossible – but work in science long enough and you come to observe that the number of unlikely things that can happen is so large that you can be assured that unlikely things will happen. Or, in the words of Terry Pratchett, “Scientists have calculated that the chances of something so patently absurd actually existing are millions to one. But magicians have calculated that million-to-one chances crop up nine times out of ten”.

We believe that young people yet retain the ability to combine magic and science. We are interested in harnessing those abilities. The challenge our interns have been set is a real one and several research groups are already attempting to address it. This means that our ‘Cagers’ will also be working on a business challenge – how to get ahead of our opposition.

Obviously there is no right or wrong answer to the challenge. We would describe success as the team coming together as a group, achieving a consensus and presenting their findings professionally to the Niche team on its conclusion. The Cagers haven’t been given too much information on their challenge as we didn’t want to bias their understanding with our out-dated thinking.

We are hoping that the experience will help them grow as scientists. It is also our intention that they will be able to add the outputs of their work (project report, presentation, etc.) to their portfolios, and that they will be able to use the learning and any materials they create when they face up to their next challenge or opportunity.

Join us in wishing them luck on the challenge ahead of them.

About the author

Tim Hardman
Managing Director
View profile
Dr Tim Hardman is Managing Director of Niche Science & Technology Ltd., a bespoke services CRO based in the UK. He also serves as Managing Director at Thromboserin Ltd., an early-stage biotechnology company. Dr Hardman is a keen scientist and an occasional commentator on all aspects of medicine, business and the process of drug development.

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