For example, biomedical research has contributed mightily to our understanding of how to reduce infant morbidity and mortality. But medical research alone is not sufficient to produce a reduction in infant mortality. Many additional activities are required, including transfer of research results into medical practice, development and diffusion of any necessary medical devices or products, and education of parents. Each agency must consider its role in contributing to leadership across the frontiers of scientific knowledge in order to enable the achievement of over-arching national goals. Each agency must be able to assess its contribution to world-class science, even though it may be only one of several agencies and institutions building knowledge in a particular area, and even though investment in science alone does not assure transfer of research results to practice.
Science proceeds through a slow process of accretion of results.
Major breakthroughs do not necessarily occur on a regular basis, and an essential element of scientific research is the replication of earlier findings in order to confirm or generalize them. Moreover new research findings are significant not just because they yield a new technical application, but simply because they help to add to the precious stock of scientific knowledge available for future human use.