It is because the effort to understand the fundamental nature of biological systems is closely linked to the desire to find applications for the concepts that emerge. It is important to recognize that basic research and the application of the research are inextricably linked. If the basic research is diminished, so will be the applications. Increasingly, investigators and their institutions are applying for patents based on their own breakthroughs. I will give one example in the field of organic chemistry.
Many chemical compounds exist in two forms, which are mirror images.
They are analogous to your right and left hands. In nature, only one form usually exists, and drugs are active in only one of the two forms. The other form is either inactive or sometimes can even have deleterious effects. However, when these compounds are synthesized in the laboratory, both forms are usually produced, often in equal quantities. Clearly, it can be of great importance to develop an approach to make only the active form.