Actually, one of the fascinating facts about the history of PCR is that Kary Mullis didn't optimize to make billions on the patent rights. In his Nobel acceptan

Actually, one of the fascinating facts about the history of PCR is that Kary Mullis didn't optimize to make billions on the patent rights. In his Nobel acceptance speech, he reminisces about how a coworker told him to quit his job and start another company before submitting an invention disclosure on PCR, but he didn't do that. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1993/mullis/lecture/ https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1993/mullis/lect... My friend Ron Cook, who had founded Biosearch, and produced the first successful commercial DNA synthesis machine, was the only person I remember during that summer who shared my enthusiasm for the reaction. He knew it would be good for the oligonucleotide business. Maybe that’s why he believed it. Or maybe he’s a rational chemist with an intact brain. He’s one of my best friends now, so I have to disqualify myself from claiming any really objective judgement regarding him. Perhaps I should have followed his advice, but then things would have worked out differently and I probably wouldn’t be here on the beach in La Jolla writing this, which I enjoy. Maybe I would be rich in Tahiti. He suggested one night at his house that since no one at Cetus had taken it seriously, I should resign my job, wait a little while, make it work, write a patent, and get rich.