In an article in "Nature" (2011), Whitesides and John M. Deutch challenged the scientific and chemical communities to become more relevant to current social and environmental issues. They criticized academic chemistry for an "increasingly incurious and risk-averse attitude" and for focusing on "familiar questions of familiar disciplines" rather than taking a broad interdisciplinary view and exploring new areas. They recommended that institutions focus on practical problems, and teach entrepreneurial skills along with basic science so as to stimulate the development of practical technologies, encouraging students to take ownership of their own research. A similar approach is taken by the Whitesides Research Group, of which John A. Rogers has said, "Chemistry was the core expertise that provided the competitive advantage, but there was no sense of chemistry as a narrowly defined discipline. It was chemistry to solve problems, not necessarily to do chemistry." The article sparked strong reactions both for and against their ideas. Many in the scientific community asserted that research agendas should be "disinterested" and that education must focus on fundamental research to advance. Whitesides and Deutch argued that teaching science in ways that address current issues can still lead to foundational work and scientific breakthroughs.