What an intriguing little article. Being a scientist, I have some personal observations to submit:
1. True. The process can take a painstaking number of years, especially if safety testing for human use is involved.
2. False. I would prefer to work uninterrupted unless circumstances dictate that collaboration is needed. I often find that other people let peripheral personal situations cloud their objectivity during testing or they are not inclined to letting me test serums on them, or take tissue samples. Tch.
3. False, may vary from scientist to scientist. I have wired things before. Including my brain.
4. True. Things can and will diverge, often in profoundly interesting ways.
5. True. I have yet to have a mouse sew himself a jacket, but I have seen them attempt to gnaw through plexiglass during psychotic episodes before their demise.
6. Hmph. It's always in the realm of possibility.
7. I prefer to think of it as I indulge in those areas of science that most interest me: biological (medical and surgical), genetic engineering, chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and toxicology.