A Quarter Century of Fueling Science

History repeats itself, and so do trends in research funding.

Written byBob Grant

| 5 min read

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SEAN MCCABE

Twenty-five years ago, life science research was a different ball game. Few of today’s common tools and techniques, which afford researchers unprecedented glimpses into biology’s inner workings, were available, and if they were, they were rarely affordable. Genetically modified organisms were still largely the stuff of science fiction. Desktop computers were not yet standard pieces of equipment in the lab. And the Human Genome Project was little more than a glimmer in the eyes of its eventual architects.

But in 1986, the state of the economic engine that drives scientific research in the United States bore an eerie resemblance to the situation that exists today. Capitol Hill was focused squarely on the federal deficit, which was the highest the county had ever seen at about ...

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Meet the Author

Bob Grant
From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.
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