🧬Research x 💰 Business : What change my perspective?

 

Not long ago, someone asked me:
“Working in a company might be repetitive — not as daring or unpredictable as academic research. Would you still be interested?”

Then I came across the story of the Nobel laureates who discovered G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) — Drs. Brian Kobilka and Robert Lefkowitz — and my perspective completely shifted.

🔬 What Are GPCRs?

GPCRs form one of the largest families of receptors in the human body and serve as major drug targets.
In fact, around 40% of all drugs today act on GPCRs.

Examples include β-adrenergic receptors, histamine receptors, muscarinic receptors, and dopamine D₂ receptors — names that anyone in pharmacology or public health will instantly recognize.

These receptors are behind the actions of asthma medications, antihypertensives, antihistamines, psychiatric drugs, and many more.
The discovery of GPCRs has led to an enormous variety of treatments across countless diseases.


🎓 The Surprise Behind the Scientist

While listening to a Nobel lecture (I think it was Kobilka’s talk), I started to wonder:
What kind of life does a professor like this have? Was he buried in the lab all his life until he made that discovery?

Turns out — absolutely not.
To my amazement, Dr. Kobilka has seven children and has founded at least three companies,
each one built directly on his GPCR research.

That moment flipped everything I thought about research upside down.
Research isn’t just research — it can evolve into business, innovation, and real-world change.

And then I realized —

“Wait… if people like him don’t take these discoveries forward, then who possibly could?”

💼 Beyond the Lab

Every stage of research has meaning.
Not every project should become a business, but when something truly has potential — it deserves the chance to grow.

This business perspective isn’t easy.
It’s no less challenging than academia — maybe even tougher.
Academic research might be thrilling for its novelty,
but corporate work turns those “sacred” discoveries from the pedestal into tangible realities —
things people can touch, use, and benefit from.

And in doing so, it brings momentum back into science itself.


💡 A Changed Mindset

Since that day listening to Kobilka, my mindset has completely changed.
I used to follow great scientists just through their publications,
but now I get excited when I see they also hold patents.

Recently, I even came across a Thai company that has patented 15 bioinformatic algorithms — and honestly, that blew my mind.