Nobel Prize in Chemistry

A Japanese and two American scientists shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein (GFP).
Dr. Osamu Shimomura, a Japanese citizen who works in the USA, isolated GFP from more than 10,000 jellyfishes. He discovered that the protein glowed bright green under irradiation of blue light. Dr. Martin Chalfie showed that the GFP can use as a bioluminescent tag in living cell. Dr. Roger Tsien created enhanced GFP and engineered a variety of GFP derivatives in different colors by single point mutations in the gene.

I saw a photo of agar plate that was drawn by a scene of San Diego beach with living bacteria expressing 8 different colors of fluorescent proteins. The image is very attractive.
(http://www.tsienlab.ucsd.edu/HTML/Images/IMAGE - PLATE - Beach.jpg)
At first, GFP appeared to be a useless protein discovered in a jellyfish. But it has greatly contributed to biology by utilizing as a marker for cells and cellular proteins. For instance, the expression of a unique combination of GFP variants, namely Brainbow, allows individual neuron tracking in brain tissue in the transgenic mice.
http://www.neuroscience-gateway.org/2007/071108/full/aba1794.shtml

By contrast, Dr. Douglas Prasher, the scientist who reported the cloning and the nucleotide sequence of GFP first, seems to have tough luck. According to a webnews, he no longer works in science. Sadly he lost his funding and failed to find a job in science. He is now driving a courtesy shuttle for a car dealership.
(http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95545761)
He is left in the shadows of the luminescent light.

GFP needed about 30 years until the utility is widely recognized. Researchers in basic science are often decried for their spending of tax. Should I try to find another GFP ?