"Don't be afraid!"
Randy Schekman says that the most successful scientists are willing to take risks. He uses 2024 chemistry laureate David Baker as an example of how embracing risk can lead to significant rewards.
Before Baker transitioned to researching structural biology he studied systems of protein transport in yeast. Prior to that, he earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy and social science, demonstrating that no career change is too drastic.
Schekman was awarded the 2013 medicine prize jointly with James Rothman and Thomas Südhof for their discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells.