Like many scientists, I came to the US as a young adult, driven by idealism and ambition. I arrived with all my belongings contained in two suitcases, and just enough cash to cover the first month’s rent on a small apartment. But I also had something of greater value: an offer to work and train in one of America’s top biomedical research laboratories, a chance to participate in the revolution that is modern biological science.
In the years that followed, I became an American scientist and raised an American family. Now, I lead a laboratory in one of the US’s great universities. I am a member of America’s National Academy of Sciences. From a scientist’s perspective, I have lived the American dream.
My story is not unusual. Many of the best scientists in the world are drawn to the US, joining many Americans who choose to build a career in science. This attraction to American science is because more so than any other country, America values unfettered scientific enquiry. In the US, scientists have greater resources to pursue their work, and scientists are an integral part of a culture that has innovation and dynamism at its core.
Simply put, the US is the best place in the world to be for smart, ambitious people to make discoveries, advance knowledge and improve people’s lives. Consequently, the US leads the world in science, by any measurable criterion. Twenty of the world’s top 30 universities are American, most Nobel prizes in science are won by Americans, half the world’s medicines are invented in the US. When “American exceptionalism” is spoken of, scientists, perhaps more so than any other profession, know exactly what is meant.
The vast majority of fundamental scientific research in the US is funded by American taxpayers, through bodies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation, that make grants to universities and research institutes. These grants support scientific infrastructure, pay scientists’ salaries and fund specific research projects. While charities and individual donors also make contributions, these are dwarfed by federal support.
Public funding for science is essential because most endeavors in science cannot be directly commercialized, and fundamental science is rarely done by the for-profit sector. Moreover, science, by definition, requires trial-and-error experimentation at the edge of knowledge – its outcomes are unpredictable. Therefore, science is, in a sense, inherently inefficient.
Nonetheless, science is the only way to generate the foundational knowledge that enables technology, medicine and an understanding of how the world works, that can be applied for the benefit of humanity. The knowledge uncovered by taxpayer-funded science underpins American innovation and exceptionalism.
The extraordinary success that has been American science makes it especially distressing to now witness its destruction. The public investment that has made American science exceptional also makes it dependent on political support.
For the most part, both sides of the political divide have recognized the obvious value of American science to society and have broadly supported public investment in it. But this no longer appears to be the case.
As I write, American science is being throttled. Funds promised for ongoing research projects are being withheld by the new administration. Executive orders of dubious legal basis have been issued that will slash resources for science. Some colleagues have already been forced to terminate the employment and training of the next generation of scientists, as funds previously promised to them are denied. Many more colleagues will need to take similar steps in the coming weeks and months as their research grants are withheld.
Many science graduate schools are not accepting new students, many are rescinding earlier offers, and others are dramatically reducing their intake. Make no mistake, the scientific workforce is being gutted. The withholding of scientific resources as a form of punishment for certain high-profile universities has been widely publicized, but it is actually happening in nearly every American biomedical research institution. The US’s capacity to do science, and its ability to draw and retain scientific talent is being discarded.
In addition to the withholding of resources, American science is being further corroded by the installation of leadership that does not value or even understand science, and is clearly incapable of effectively leading it.
In the past, American science was led by distinguished scientists and administrators who grasped its foundational role in a society whose lifeblood is innovation. Under the new administration, science leadership roles have been assigned to those without notable achievement, whose only real distinction is infamy. We would never have heard of these individuals were it not for their ludicrous pronouncements, poor science or outright quackery.
These new leaders are targeting specific areas of great scientific importance for elimination. They have commanded that NIH grant applications be screened for particular scientific terms; for example, projects on vaccines using a particular exceptionally promising technology, that is disfavored based on a whim of the leadership, are being weeded out. Entire programs that are intended to better prepare the US and the world for future pandemics are being terminated.
As an example, in my own laboratory, a peer-reviewed and approved NIH project to devise ways to make better vaccines has been prematurely ended, without scientific justification. Meanwhile, the new leadership will embark on studies of their own inclination, ostensibly to address questions of vaccine safety. These issues are already long settled but will be re-examined by individuals with a track record of bias, appointed by leaders with a track record of bias.
Finally, within the past few days, a purge of scientists at the NIH has commenced, including the capricious firing of distinguished individuals in management roles. This is clearly and obviously not how science should be done, and this is clearly and obviously not how science should be led. Science in the US is entering a phase resembling the Lysenko era in the Soviet Union.
While the destruction of science will not immediately affect many Americans who are not scientists, the impact of its demise on all our children and grandchildren will be dire. Economic development is dependent on scientific innovation, and if the US does not lead the way in science, other countries will take the leadership role. In medicine, consider the impact of science done in decades past on American lives today; the survival of nearly all American children to adulthood is a fairly recent phenomenon that is largely attributable to fundamental scientific discoveries of the recent past.
If we continue the destructive course plotted by this administration, medicines that would otherwise have saved lives in future generations, will not be invented. Technologies that would have ensured future employment and prosperity in the US will not be devised. Solutions that allow the generation of power while causing less damage to the environment, will never be developed. Clearly, if we decline to nurture science, the lives of future Americans will be shorter, sicker and poorer. Science may not be the only thing that makes the US great, but it is surely a cornerstone of American exceptionalism, and it is being destroyed by this government.
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