# Resident evil the umbrella corporation how realistically is it **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resident-evil-the-umbrella-corporation-how-realistically-is-it/713806 "2015-02-27T22:22:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resident-evil-the-umbrella-corporation-how-realistically-is-it/713806/21 "2015-02-28T19:02:43Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > There isn’t a shortage of researchers. if anything there is a glut of people trained in STEM fields who would be willing/able to work in R&D if the jobs existed. > > Also we do spend more on war, but not by much. I think the US spends about 4% of GDP on military, about 3% on R&D. In many other wealthy nations both numbers are lower, closer to 2% each but it varies by country. > > Either way, here is biopolis in singapore. it sounds a bit like what you are asking about. > > [Biopolis - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biopolis) > Also when I was in college each science building had several floors full of labs with professors, post docs, grad students and undergrads working on research. However I went to a state flagship university in a mid sized state (I think that campuses research was considered top 10 or 20 or something in the nation). So that may be an outlier, but evenso you could find tons of labs and floors full of labs where I went to college. Why is there a shortage of doctors? At least UK and Canada? Where it months waiting list for knee or hip surgery? Why does it take month, some times many months to see a specialist. Why only 2 or 3 doctors working in the ER? With 60 people line up to see a doctor? Why is it when doctor order tests it could be some weeks before you go for the tests like CT scan or blood work so on and than some weeks after to you go and see your doctor. But world leaders get this all done in the same week.But the public has to wait to see a specialists, than wait for when opening comes for the test like CT scan or blood work:eek::eek: than wait some weeks than see the doctor for the test results. What up with putting people on stretcher in the hallway of the hospital.Where some people have been like that for day or two. What is up with hospitals that go on critical care bypass for the EMS crew unless you a code 1 patient. There was a story some time ago, I think it was in Toronto a guy got shot he was close to a hospital and the hospital was on critical care bypass and the EMS crew took him to other hospital way far out and he died. Than the government ruling after that the hospital cannot do it any more if you a code 1 patient. There was other story guy had waited two days in ER. Why is lung cancer survival rate much worse in the UK than the US? ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resident-evil-the-umbrella-corporation-how-realistically-is-it/713806/22 "2015-02-28T20:28:43Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > It’s a comedic site, but [this one](http://imgur.com/gallery/ZpgQz) is a pretty good description of some of the differences. Hah. Thanks for helping me find yet another way to put off re-designing my poster for a conference next week… > [@dasmoocher](#): > > The comic was pretty funny 🙂 I’ve always wondered why in TV shows the labs are so dark; probably so you can see the cool LED lights and computer graphics on the equipment, but good luck finding that tube you just dropped. I’ve spent many quality hours in dark rooms filled with microscopes [like this](http://www.nic.uni-hd.de/md/nic/4-tirf-1-s_small.jpg), lit only by flashes of laser light scattered by the sample, blinking indicator lights, and (hopefully) a pretty image of the sample on monitor. It’s one of the few things that even slightly resembles the movie lab aesthetic. However, there are only zombies in those rooms when I’m catching up on Walking Dead episodes during an hours-long imaging session. (Though I usually I go for lighter entertainment when alone in a dark room…) > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > One of the largest privately-owned medical research organizations in the world is the [Howard Hughes Medical Institute](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Hughes_Medical_Institute). They spend something like $800 million each year but they don’t have a giant building with a thousand scientists working in it. Instead, from looking at their [website](http://www.hhmi.org/scientists/browse) it appears that they have about 500 scientists working at universities all over the country. My guess is that it’s cheaper to sponsor a scientist at an existing university than to build your own lab in which that researcher can work. HHMI does have their own research facility at Janalia Farm (cue angelic choir). Wiki sez there are about 500 people working there, which probably means there are a few dozen principle investigators, each running their own lab. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resident-evil-the-umbrella-corporation-how-realistically-is-it/713806/23 "2015-02-28T21:16:06Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > This is the part that’s really more fiction than reality. > > What does it even mean to “research lung cancer”? For one, lung cancer isn’t a single cancer. Lung cancer in a life long smoker is going to be different from that found in a non-smoker who was exposed to asbestos or somebody who has a family history, i.e. genetic, of lung cancer, or somebody who was exposed to radiation and got cancer that way. > > You don’t just study all that in a big mass. That’s a lot of different causes and different, though related, diseases and diagnosis and treatment should reflect those differences. > > So, what exactly would these researchers be “studying” together? Each one may be “studying lung cancer” but really they’re going to be researching their little subproblem. > > It’s like college. While it’s true that a physics major studies science, telling somebody “I study science” is misleading. There’s not a “science department” where you learn all of science. They study physics. And at a low level. Now, let’s say it’s a graduate student. It’s still misleading to say they study physics. They are now focusing on a narrow area within physics (astrophysics? geophysics? particle physics?). And say they want to get a PhD and do research for the rest of their lives. Then, they aren’t just studying that narrow area but a sliver within that area. > > Medical research is going to be like that. While it’s true that somebody may “study” lung cancer, what they really mean is they work on their own particular small part of a problem that, combined with other problems, addresses one single (of many) part of a particular lung cancer. It is true, however, they may be looking at several little problems at the same time. > > Take a look at [this image](http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/). “Lung Cancer” is going to be a big circle. Any individual researcher is only doing one of the small bumps. > > And that’s on top of **OldOlds** point about the different backgrounds and training of researchers. Tossing 100 biochemists into a room is well and good, but in reality you’ll want a mix of different specializations, including biochemists and cell biologists and medical doctors and whatever else, and that includes different levels of training and education. Labeling them all “researchers” as if they’re interchangeable is one of the hallmarks of a movie scientist. > > That’s how movie “scientists” are like MacGuyver. Somehow, they’re all experts at a wide range of sciences and can somehow engineer solutions to your problems with no tools, no expert training, and without really even looking closely at the problem. Yeah, put 100 of those in a room together, and they’ll cure cancer. But they also don’t exist in the real world. > > It’s a comedic site, but [this one](http://imgur.com/gallery/ZpgQz) is a pretty good description of some of the differences. But is that not the problem is it is too specialized? example analogy, would be in movies car maker scientist would make a car but in the real world you have guy work on door, other guy work on trim, other guy work on window, other guy paint, other guy work on the electronics, other guy work on the brakes, other guy work on the spark plugs so on. If you do that with research and drug design bringing new drugs to the market to cure disease and illness you going to need millions of people. And this approach may not be good. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resident-evil-the-umbrella-corporation-how-realistically-is-it/713806/24 "2015-02-28T21:53:56Z")
Specialization can be taken too far, but without specialization we’d have absolutely no hope of advancing modern science. Biology in particular is far more complicated than any single person can comprehend. A car is a device designed by clever people, using tools and knowledge passed on by other clever people. There is not a single part of a car that is impossible for a person to understand. All the parts work together in complicated ways, but clever people have figured out how to manage complexity through a mix of specialization and good engineering practices so that no one person needs to know every detail about how the car works. A single cell is far more complicated than any device that humans have ever invented. Cells arose by processes that have absolutely no regard for making it easy for clever humans to understand them. Without specialization we couldn’t even begin to figure out how a cell works. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resident-evil-the-umbrella-corporation-how-realistically-is-it/713806/25 "2015-03-01T01:19:48Z")
As I remember seeing in one scene, you had a lab that had the isolation stuff, test tubes and blinkenlightenmachienen and then there was a side area of desk farm. It would make great sense to me to have said lab area surrounded by the record keepers, “paper researchers”, logistics secretaries and such in proximity to the high tech test tube pushers area. I could see this in clumps on floors - cancer has 4 or 5 research groups, influenza has another floor with a cluster of research groups, and the top floor with no labs is reception and shipping/recieving and other administrative with no lab needs. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resident-evil-the-umbrella-corporation-how-realistically-is-it/713806/26 "2015-03-01T12:55:45Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > Why is there a shortage of doctors? At least UK and Canada? Where it months waiting list for knee or hip surgery? Why does it take month, some times many months to see a specialist. > > Why only 2 or 3 doctors working in the ER? With 60 people line up to see a doctor? > > Why is it when doctor order tests it could be some weeks before you go for the tests like CT scan or blood work so on and than some weeks after to you go and see your doctor. > > But world leaders get this all done in the same week.But the public has to wait to see a specialists, than wait for when opening comes for the test like CT scan or blood work:eek::eek: than wait some weeks than see the doctor for the test results. > > What up with putting people on stretcher in the hallway of the hospital.Where some people have been like that for day or two. What is up with hospitals that go on critical care bypass for the EMS crew unless you a code 1 patient. > > There was a story some time ago, I think it was in Toronto a guy got shot he was close to a hospital and the hospital was on critical care bypass and the EMS crew took him to other hospital way far out and he died. Than the government ruling after that the hospital cannot do it any more if you a code 1 patient. > > There was other story guy had waited two days in ER. > > Why is lung cancer survival rate much worse in the UK than the US? I still believe there are more than enough people with undergraduate and graduate degrees who would be willing to work in R&D, there just aren’t the jobs. There are also people who don’t have degrees in those fields who would be willing to be trained in them if they thought the jobs existed. The problem isn’t a lack of human talent, the problem is a lack of high quality jobs. As far as doctors, here is a list of physicians per capita. > **[Message About Global Health Facts | KFF](https://www.kff.org/message-about-global-health-facts/)** > > The Global Health Facts section of this website is no longer active, as of April 7, 2016. For information on global health policy, including the U.S. government’s role in global health, please visit our global health topic page. For information on... [![](https://geographic.org/country_ranks/practising_physicians_per_1000_population_2005.jpg) ](https://geographic.org/country_ranks/practising_physicians_per_1000_population_2005.jpg) Canada has about 21 per 10,000 people. That is on the lower end for wealthy nations. That may be part of the problem, but I’m not sure why. Canada should have as many talented, educated people as Iceland or Spain, who have 2x as many physicians per capita. There is probably something about the medical school system and residency system that limits physicians there but I don’t know. I’m certain Canada could find an extra 1-2 people per 1,000 who are talented and driven enough to become a physician. If they could, they’d go from the low end to the high end of OECD nations in per capita doctors. I was told by Canadians that the main problem with their system is that people opposed to it in politics try to cut funding for it. I’m not sure if that is why there are all the problems you are seeing. As far as US vs UK statistics, you have to consider in the US we spend way way more on health care. We spend about $9000 per person per year. in the UK they spend about $3600. So if there are better survival rates for some kinds of cancer, the fact that the US spends over twice as much could be part of it. According to this article part of the problem could be that because of how our system is run we overdiagnose cancer. So yeah we have more cancer survivors, but that could be because we are more likely to label every abnormality as cancer. [http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2009/08/17/we-need-to-be-careful-when-comparing-us-and-uk-cancer-care/](http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2009/08/17/we-need-to-be-careful-when-comparing-us-and-uk-cancer-care/) If so, I wouldn’t call that a success story. Technically, by the time a person is in their senior years a large percent will have abnormalities that you could label ‘cancer’, but much of the cancer will not cause problems before the person dies of something else. Doctors who insist on treating every abnormality aren’t doing anyone (but themselves and the companies they work for) any favors. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resident-evil-the-umbrella-corporation-how-realistically-is-it/713806/27 "2015-03-01T18:21:54Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > But is that not the problem is it is too specialized? example analogy, would be in movies car maker scientist would make a car but in the real world you have guy work on door, other guy work on trim, other guy work on window, other guy paint, other guy work on the electronics, other guy work on the brakes, other guy work on the spark plugs so on. No, it’s the opposite problem. As I noted above, something like “lung cancer” is not a single disease. It’s too general. The movie researcher doesn’t design “a” car but all cars, trucks, tanks, trains, etc of any kind running on any fuel running anywhere in the world at any fuel economy. That’s what you are expecting with your “lung cancer researcher”. A very general, generic situation. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resident-evil-the-umbrella-corporation-how-realistically-is-it/713806/28 "2015-03-01T18:40:21Z")
To expand on it, you are expecting the real world automobile engineer to design the engine. And also the electronics (which includes several hundred chips and the programming thereof). And also the hybrid system for those models if such exists. And to handle running on ethanol or gasoline equally. And the frame, including the materials compositions. And also be able to deal with the company’s SUV and minivans that aren’t really similar to the existing car but hey, an automobile engineer should be able to engineer everything in every type of vehicle, right? There’s no “single” lung cancer. There are several types. There’s a reason why design teams have multiple different engineers. Each is going to have their own function. Somebody who can program electronic components isn’t going to be expected to work on fuel injection and vice-versa. But that’s what you are expecting of “lung cancer researchers”. You want each one to be so generalized they can do all these different things that may involve chemists, biologists, computer programmers, and who knows how many other disciplines. As I mentioned above, that’s basically expecting every “researcher” to be MacGuyver. There’s an expression “jack of all trades, master of none”. Rather than that, you are expecting researchers to be “master of all trades”. That’s hardly realistic. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resident-evil-the-umbrella-corporation-how-realistically-is-it/713806/29 "2015-03-01T19:06:53Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > I still believe there are more than enough people with undergraduate and graduate degrees who would be willing to work in R&D, there just aren’t the jobs. There are also people who don’t have degrees in those fields who would be willing to be trained in them if they thought the jobs existed. The problem isn’t a lack of human talent, the problem is a lack of high quality jobs. > > As far as doctors, here is a list of physicians per capita. > > [Physicians (Per 10,000 Population) | KFF](http://kff.org/global-indicator/physicians/) > > [http://www.geographic.org/country\_ranks/practising\_physicians\_per\_1000\_population\_2005.jpg](http://www.geographic.org/country_ranks/practising_physicians_per_1000_population_2005.jpg) > > Canada has about 21 per 10,000 people. That is on the lower end for wealthy nations. That may be part of the problem, but I’m not sure why. Canada should have as many talented, educated people as Iceland or Spain, who have 2x as many physicians per capita. There is probably something about the medical school system and residency system that limits physicians there but I don’t know. I’m certain Canada could find an extra 1-2 people per 1,000 who are talented and driven enough to become a physician. If they could, they’d go from the low end to the high end of OECD nations in per capita doctors. > > I was told by Canadians that the main problem with their system is that people opposed to it in politics try to cut funding for it. I’m not sure if that is why there are all the problems you are seeing. > > As far as US vs UK statistics, you have to consider in the US we spend way way more on health care. We spend about $9000 per person per year. in the UK they spend about $3600. So if there are better survival rates for some kinds of cancer, the fact that the US spends over twice as much could be part of it. > > According to this article part of the problem could be that because of how our system is run we overdiagnose cancer. So yeah we have more cancer survivors, but that could be because we are more likely to label every abnormality as cancer. > > [http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2009/08/17/we-need-to-be-careful-when-comparing-us-and-uk-cancer-care/](http://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2009/08/17/we-need-to-be-careful-when-comparing-us-and-uk-cancer-care/) > > If so, I wouldn’t call that a success story. Technically, by the time a person is in their senior years a large percent will have abnormalities that you could label ‘cancer’, but much of the cancer will not cause problems before the person dies of something else. Doctors who insist on treating every abnormality aren’t doing anyone (but themselves and the companies they work for) any favors. What do you mean by overdiagnoses and overtreats cancer? Can you elaborate on this. > [@](#): > > abnormality as cancer. What do you mean here a tumor that is not cancerous? ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2015, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resident-evil-the-umbrella-corporation-how-realistically-is-it/713806/30 "2015-03-01T22:28:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Michelle Amaral wanted to be a brain scientist to help cure diseases. She planned a traditional academic science career: PhD, university professorship and, eventually, her own lab. > > But three years after earning a doctorate in neuroscience, she gave up trying to find a permanent job in her field. > [@](#): > > **There are too many laboratory scientists for too few jobs.** > [@](#): > > That reality runs counter to messages sent by President Obama and the National Science Foundation and other influential groups, who in recent years have called for U.S. universities to churn out more scientists. > [@](#): > > **But it’s questionable whether those youths will be able to find work when they get a PhD**. Although jobs in some high-tech areas, especially computer and petroleum engineering, seem to be booming, t **he market is much tighter for lab-bound scientists — those seeking new discoveries in biology, chemistry and medicine.** > [@](#): > > Traditional academic jobs are scarcer than ever. Once a primary career path, only 14 percent of those with a PhD in biology and the life sciences now land a coveted academic position within five years, according to a 2009 > [@](#): > > The reason: The supply of scientists has grown far faster than the number of academic positions. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-pushes-for-more-scientists-but-the-jobs-arent-there/2012/07/07/gJQAZJpQUW\_story.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-pushes-for-more-scientists-but-the-jobs-arent-there/2012/07/07/gJQAZJpQUW_story.html) So in way there are too many scientists and not enough jobs for them. Why is that the case? Is that a good thing? More scientists working on problems? Or is money the real problem? Money is problem why there no jobs for them? That if money grow on trees 5% of the US population could be scientists working in biology, chemistry and medicine!!! > [@](#): > > Not a corporation, but NIH’s Bldg 10/CRC in Bethesda, MD is fairly large. And, there are labs working on all kinds of things. Not sure how many people work in the building itself, but there could be a 1000 PI’s. And that’s just the biggest building on the campus; there are many others. > > As far as an actual corporation, Genentech in S. San Francisco looks a lot like a modern university and I bet there’s a ton of individual labs there. I guess if money was not a problem you could have 5 or 10 of these in the US. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resident-evil-the-umbrella-corporation-how-realistically-is-it/713806/31 "2015-03-02T01:25:15Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > What do you mean by overdiagnoses and overtreats cancer? Can you elaborate on this. > > What do you mean here a tumor that is not cancerous? [http://www.wsj.com/articles/some-cancer-experts-see-overdiagnosis-and-question-emphasis-on-early-detection-1410724838](http://www.wsj.com/articles/some-cancer-experts-see-overdiagnosis-and-question-emphasis-on-early-detection-1410724838) > [@](#): > > “We’re not finding enough of the really lethal cancers, and we’re finding too many of the slow-moving ones that probably don’t need to be found,” says Laura Esserman, a breast-cancer surgeon at the University of California, San Francisco. With conditions like skin cancer or thyroid cancer, a tiny minority are really deadly but the majority are not. Not all cancer is the same. Someone saying you have ‘skin cancer’ could mean you have malignant melanoma (the bad kind) or it could be one of the fairly non-lethal forms which make up the majority. Cancer is complex. Treating every lump or abnormality as a life threatening issue does more harm than good since there is a lot of physical and psychological damage that comes from being diagnosed and treated for cancer. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resident-evil-the-umbrella-corporation-how-realistically-is-it/713806/32 "2015-03-04T20:39:10Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > [http://www.wsj.com/articles/some-cancer-experts-see-overdiagnosis-and-question-emphasis-on-early-detection-1410724838](http://www.wsj.com/articles/some-cancer-experts-see-overdiagnosis-and-question-emphasis-on-early-detection-1410724838) > > With conditions like skin cancer or thyroid cancer, a tiny minority are really deadly but the majority are not. Not all cancer is the same. Someone saying you have ‘skin cancer’ could mean you have malignant melanoma (the bad kind) or it could be one of the fairly non-lethal forms which make up the majority. > > Cancer is complex. Treating every lump or abnormality as a life threatening issue does more harm than good since there is a lot of physical and psychological damage that comes from being diagnosed and treated for cancer. You saying people in the UK the cancers is more aggressive where in the US the cancers are less aggressive so people do not die as much? > [@](#): > > skin cancer or thyroid cancer, a tiny minority are really deadly So people in the UK are getting the really deadly cancers? So why the numbers are bad in the UK? Where people in the US are getting the less deadly cancers? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2015, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resident-evil-the-umbrella-corporation-how-realistically-is-it/713806/33 "2015-03-04T21:11:20Z")
Canada is not AFAIK actively discouraging doctors. One problem is that doctors and nurses here can move to the USA, where the job is somewhat different but the pay is higher. (A fellow who lived down the street from me told me his 3 daughters graduated as nurses, went to the USA, and came back within 10 years because they couldn’t hack the job of telling sick people to go away because they had no coverage). research - pure science, the thing that makes breakthroughs - AFAIK in medicine is like in the rest of science. A very bright person with PhD has an idea or wants to check something that is still unknown. (“If pancreatic cells from another person are attacked by the local antibodies, perhaps we can use this scheme to implant but protect them…”) They devise an experiment, then sell the idea to a governing body to get a grant. This pays for salaries, lab equipment, lab space, etc. to perform the research. A scientist might have several of these on the go. I had a relative researching for Bell labs back in the day, and this is essentially what she did. For the “development” side of things, the area of study may be assigned. “We want you guys to look at a lighter, but stronger frame made of steel wrapped in carbon fiber” or “theoretically this chemical should bond to this receptor and reduce pain. test this, and see if the benefits outweigh the side effects.” The same process applies though - “here’s our project, you guys figure out what meets our need for this piece of it and then we’ll figure out if that is practical to manufacture in quantities.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resident-evil-the-umbrella-corporation-how-realistically-is-it/713806.md?page=1)