It's amazing how our species builds upon our body of knowledge.
I don't have the answer for how research should be prioritized or funded, but I think it's important to remember that every great accomplishment in human history was the result of a culmination of millions of small things. So don't forget the basics.
The irony of an article from 1974 with a link bait title in a Medical Journal! If one of the other names was in the title I would never have scanned this article.
I shared this in light of the recent article by Matt Ridley, "On the Myth of Basic Science"[1] which I find less honest and filled with anecdotal examples that fit his particular narrative.
[1] www.wsj.com/articles/the-myth-of-basic-science-1445613954