Comment from Justin Blau

I am an NIH-funded researcher working at NYU, studying the fundamental process of the regulation of cell shape, focusing on neuronal plasticity. I also work extensively on circadian rhythms and contributed to the papers that won the 2017 Nobel prize in Medicine & Physiology. I am STRONGLY opposed to the new rule as it takes the power to fund science away from experts and transfers it to politicians. I do not understand why this is seen as a good idea – there are so many discoveries that have come from basic science that non-experts would not have seen as worthwhile to fund. Examples include my field: studying circadian rhythms in fruitflies has led directly to an understanding of human circadian rhythms and sleep disorders and now to a new field of circadian medicine. Another great example is studying the immune system of bacteria. Why should we care about that? Well, this has led to restriction enzymes and more recently CRISPR. In other words, the whole field of molecular biology (and therefore modern medicine) is founded on the backs of researchers who learned to manipulate DNA to ultimately find genes disrupted in cancer and numerous other diseases. These are VERY exciting times in science and America needs to stay at the forefront of the field – which means a strong and expert-led NIH to provide stable funding for scientists…and this should not be at the whim of whichever political party is in power.