Francesco Fiondella
When he addressed the nation in January, President George W. Bush left little doubt that he intends to invest enormous amounts of federal cash into homeland security, including efforts to protect Americans from bioterrorism. What the president did not say during his annual State of the Union speech was where the funds will come from.
The federal budgets for FY2004 and FY2005 reflect a fundamental shift in White House priorities when it comes to scientific research, one that focuses on homeland security to the detriment of basic biomedical research for some of the world's deadliest diseases, critics say. "After a period of vigorous funding for the National Institutes of Health, the fear is that suddenly the tap is going to be shut off," says Sean Tipton, spokesman for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. "The problem with science is that it's really difficult to operate in this on-again, ...
