How many years have you been studying this type of science?

Question: How many years have you been studying this type of science?
- Keywords:
  how long,
  study,
  time
Asked by NuriaM about How Do Bacteria "See" Molecules Inside Themselves? on 24 Jun 2023
- Andrew Knappenberger answered on 24 Jun 2023:
  
  Hi Nuria! I’ve been thinking like a scientist for my whole life. I’ve been interested in the molecules of life since I was about 13. I started getting paid a little for doing life science work when I was at university, when I was about 20. I started getting real paychecks for doing science when I was 22, in graduate school.
  
  So the answer depends on how you ask the question! I’m 33 now, and my first strong memories of being interested in the life sciences were from when I was about 13, so my best answer is 20 years. But I only focused fully on RNA during my postdoctoral training at Yale, which lasted about 2.5 years.