More important, last November Gore and the president's science adviser, John Gibbons, sketched out the grandiose federal plan for one of the nation's most promising but challenged fields in the report "Biotechnology for the 21st Century: New Horizons." It presented a sweeping vision: "Expand research to discover, characterize, modify, and control the genetics and biochemical products . . . of terrestrial and marine organisms. . . . Apply the tools of modern biotechnologies to problems in agriculture, the environment, and manufacturing. . . . Strengthen and enhance facilities, repositories, databases, reference standards, and human resources . . . ."
But wish lists are easy. Conspicuously absent from the report were any new funding sources or strategies. It was impossible to read the report without wondering whether Gore, Gibbons, and their staffs are aware of the battle to balance the federal budget.
When it comes to the nation's biomedical research enterprise, ...
