Question: how will your work with bugs and protein help the average man?

Peter Elliott answered on 25 Jun 2014:

In the short term my work will have less of an impact than in the long term.
The majority of scientific research is adding to our knowledge and understanding of the world around us. Once we have a better understanding we can then try and manipulate that to better suit our needs and desires. Huge leaps in scientific progress are very rare events.
Some of my bacterial work is advantageous very quickly as I look at contamination of places that produce food and drinks. If I notice that something is not clean enough it will be taken off-line until the bug is gone. This clearly helps everyone as they don’t eat or drink contaminated items.