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• In 1949 on the development of a poliomyelitis vaccine (it was developed later that year)

I can see no hope at present of such a vaccine being produced ... I have adopted a frankly defeatist attitude towards the problem of poliomyelitis and I hope that future developments will prove me wrong ... No means of controlling poliomyelitis is at present visible.

• In 1970 he wrote

I can see no practical application of molecular biology to human affairs ... DNA is a tangled mass of linear molecules in which the informational content is quite inaccessible.

• Gustav Nossal on working with Burnet

One of the minor regrets, not really a big regret, is that I’ve never published a paper with Mac Burnet. I’ve published 500 papers, not a single one has Burnet as a co-author. He did not believe in putting his name on a paper if he hadn’t done at least one third of the work himself. A sort of an honest unselfish approach, when it comes time to reap the glory you do it without having someone grabbing it instead of you.