Frances Arnold

I've been called pushy and aggressive and all the negative words that are rarely applied to men with the same traits. But it doesn't bother me. ”

All my projects are about sustainability, bioremediation, making things in a cleaner fashion. ”

Give up the thought that you have control. You don't. The best you can do is adapt, anticipate, be flexible, sense the environment and respond. ”

Someone asked me 'What's the funniest thing or what's the best thing that you've ever done?' It's always what I'm doing now. ”

I love what I do, and I'm grateful for every day I can do it. ”

I learned how to navigate the world, and life's potholes, in Pittsburgh. ”

In the universe of possibilities that exist for life, we've shown that it is a very easy possibility for life as we know it to include silicon in organic molecules. And once you can do it somewhere in the universe, it's probably being done. ”

People are really interested in these fundamental questions: Why is life based on carbon and not silicon? ”

Life is not a piece of cake, and it certainly is not for many of the people I know. ”

Enzymes catalyze all the reactions of life. They're what allow you to extract materials and energy from your environment and turn that into muscle and tissue and fat. That's all done by enzymes. They're pretty remarkable chemists - they're even better than Caltech chemists. ”