Mike Lenardo, NIAID molecular immunologist, notes that the crowded conditions are highly variable. "It depends on what institute you're at and what sort of research you're doing," he comments. He adds that an upside to the lack of space exists--scientists are in frequent contact with one another. "I think having one person per room would be a disaster," Lenardo notes. "Good science requires constant communication."
However, Stephen Marx, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases researcher, thinks there is such a thing as too much closeness at the NIH's laboratory--especially inside Building 10. "Things are very tight," he notes. "If we had more space, we could do more work." Still, Marx sees an upside of sorts in the situation. He notes that he would likely inherit ample lab space should he choose to go to academia. But that space would be accompanied by higher personnel uncertainty than he's ...
