WIKIMEDIA, PLOSGeneticist Michael Eisen of the University of California, Berkeley, has been a vocal opponent of Donald Trump. Now, the researcher has announced his intent to run for US Senate. “We can't sit around and hope other people are going to solve our problems for us - time to step up, if you can…,” Eisen posted on his Twitter account on Sunday (January 29) after announcing his senate run last week (January 25).
“Too much of the scientific establishment looks at the government as a bank—that the primary thing we should worry about is can we get the right amount of money out of Congress,” Eisen told Science. “Too few people focus on the fact that science needs to be a partnership with the public for it to thrive.”
Eisen, who told Science that he plans to run as an independent, is perhaps the most recognizable name in a list of other scientists who are considering running for office to combat policies that seem broadly antagonistic to science. The groundswell is partly thanks to 314 Action, an organization run by chemist and former breast cancer researcher Shaughnessy Naughton, who ran for Congress in 2014 and 2016 but lost ...
