In recent weeks, we have all been flooded with the message that research is a ridiculous, frivolous and repulsive waste of taxpayers' money by the federal government, and such sentiments have been used to justify the drastic funding cuts to the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. Even I can agree that topics like the sex life of the screwworm, deadly sea snail venom, and the blood of horseshoe crabs sounds pretty ridiculous. But as a scientist and NSF-funded researcher, I know that science isn’t linear, and it is often the seemingly-obscure and frivolous-sounding studies that change the world.
It was actually snail venom studies that led to the discovery of a non-opioid drug a thousand times more powerful than morphine. And the screwworm’s sex life turns out to be pretty important, as discovering how to sterilize & eradicate it led to billions of dollars saved by the cattle industry. Studying horseshoe crabs helped us develop effective treatments for COVID-19. In science, you can’t always predict what you will find, but it is often basic research that leads to huge discoveries.
We DO need watchdogs, but you know what? Slashing funding to science and making a mockery of research projects is not the answer. Research can’t be turned on and off, and for many scientists an interruption in funding ends careers, or leads to a “brain drain” where our best and brightest leave to work in other countries, decimating our ability to produce cutting edge science and train the next generation. If we want to be a leader in the world, we must push back against policies that undermine scientific progress and ensure that research remains a national priority.
I’m Karen Samonds, and that’s my perspective.
