Obama to support GE/Stem Cell/Biomedical Research.

[Guest guest]

Obama promises new era of scientific innovation

 

 

13:02 05 November 2008

 

NewScientist.com news service

 

Colin Barras

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn15130?DCMP=ILC-hmts & nsref=top1_head_Obama%20promises%20new%20era%20of%20scientific%20innovationYesterday, the American people chose Barack Obama as the country's

44th president, promising a sea change in US policy that could affect

not just the US, but the whole world.

Here

we take a look at what Obama has pledged over the lengthy presidential

campaign, to see what his administration will mean for science and

technology.

In September, Obama unveiled a comprehensive Science and Technology Policy (pdf).

In

it he promised to lead a new era of scientific innovation in America

and to restore integrity to US science policy. This would be achieved

by doubling the federal investment in basic research and by addressing

the "grand challenges" of the 21st century, he said. The rhetoric gained him the public endorsement of 61 Nobel laureates.

Obama

lacks a science background, though, and over the past 50 years it has

been Republican, rather than Democratic administrations, that have

tended to spend more on science. Whether Obama and his team can buck this trend in the current dire financial situation remains to be seen.

Key adviser

Although he consulted a range of Nobel prize winners

during his presidential campaign, it is also crucial that Obama chooses

his presidential scientific adviser early in his term, Joanne Carney of

the American Association for the Advancement of Science told New Scientist in September.

"Having the science adviser in place early is going to be critical," Carney said. "It means that an individual can play a role in placing other key scientists throughout the federal agencies."

The

outgoing Bush administration took 10 months to appoint John Marburger

as the presidential science adviser – a position that didn't exist

until Russia sent Sputnik into space 50 years ago.

By

the time Marburger took up his post the president had already made

clear his position on stem cells and climate change, leaving his new

adviser with few decisions to make.

To the heavens

We already have some idea of Obama's own position on the big scientific issues – at the beginning of September he answered 14 questions posed by a consortium of scientific organisations.

Obama promised to lift the current ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and support recommendations on genetic engineering as proposed by the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee.

Technology

could benefit under the Obama administration too, with promises to

re-establish the National Aeronautics and Space Council – scrapped in

1993 by George Bush senior. The move would "expand our reach into the

heavens and improve life here on Earth," said Obama.

Obama's attitude to the problem of climate change appeals to many in the scientific community – he aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and expand research funding into energy resources that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Read our environmental analysis of what the Obama victory will mean for the fight against climate change.

Health of the nation

Obama's

policy on healthcare will be among the most carefully scrutinised. The

US spends twice as much per head on healthcare as many other developed

nations, but has little extra benefit to show for it.

With

a healthcare bill that currently stands at over $2 trillion per year

and is rising rapidly, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates

that the US's health spending will soar to 49% of GDP in 2082 – it

currently stands at 16%.

Shannon Brownlee, a specialist in health policy with the New America Foundation, a non-partisan think tank in Washington DC, told New Scientist that the antidote to soaring costs is more research into the comparative effectiveness of medical interventions.

That,

coupled with greater use of electronic medical records and information

technology, could help reduce the likelihood of duplicated diagnostic

tests and minimise errors in drug prescribing.

Obama has already pledged billions of dollars for such systems, and supports further biomedical research into disease and responses to bioterror attacks.

Playing catch-up?

For

too long the US has "[reduced] support for science at a time when many

other nations are increasing it," Obama said in September. "A situation

that already threatens our leadership in many critical areas of

science."

That comment prompted New Scientist to wonder whether Obama feared America was falling behind in the scientific rat-race.

Whether

or not Obama's scientific motives are to improve the world we live in,

or to play science and technology catch-up with the other leading

nations, the new US president has certainly been making the right

noises for those that value science and technology. Now we have to wait

and see if he can deliver."The damage caused by vaccine exposure (of mercury) is massive. It's bigger than asbestos, bigger than tobacco, bigger than anything you've ever seen." - Mark Blaxill, vice president of Safe Minds, a nonprofit organization concerned about the role of mercury in medicines.

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