Dear President-elect Trump,
Congratulations on your victory. As a fellow president myself (albeit with a much smaller constituency), I can remember well those early post-election days, when the surge of heady enthusiasm for all those things I hoped to accomplish had not yet been eroded by the practicalities of actually governing. But as a geneticist writing to a man of business, I’d like to tell you why you should surprise the world and make science the cornerstone of your administration.
First, science and engineering create jobs—good jobs. In my world, it’s pharmaceutical companies making antibodies to treat cancer, or biotech companies using stem cells to regenerate tissues. In other fields, it’s manufacturing new smart phones and cars and televisions, or robots and laptops and airplanes. If it turns out to be difficult to bring back old blue collar jobs like those in coal mining or the steel industry, please consider supporting some new jobs based on the strength of the American scientific research enterprise. Start-up companies that create high wage jobs sprout in research parks around healthy university research communities—not just in Silicon Valley or outside Boston but in Indiana and North Dakota and Louisiana and South Carolina. And rebuilding our infrastructure, a goal shared by both Parties, will require lots of innovation, especially for things like power grids, internet access, treatment plants, and efficient transportation systems.
Second, a host of nasty diseases that we don’t have good cures for strike our fellow Americans—diseases like diabetes, congestive heart failure, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and many cancers. As we all get older, one of these dreadful diseases is likely to catch up to you and me and many of our family members. (I’d be remiss not to mention that others—like malaria, TB, respiratory and diarrheal diseases, AIDS—hit hard in much of the rest of the world, but perhaps we can save this discussion for another time.) If you ask the CEOs of our big pharmaceutical companies, I expect they’ll tell you that their companies’ successes depend on the basic research carried out by members of my professional society and other similar ones. It may surprise you to learn that many of the genes implicated in human disease were first discovered in organisms like fruit flies and roundworms and baker’s yeast. I should mention, too, that the pharmaceutical industry hires the scientists and engineers trained in our university labs. It’s simply good business practice to bolster support for basic research.
Third—and here’s where I hate to get into disagreement with you—but please hear me out: The world really is warming up and humans really are to blame. Don’t take my word for it; I’m no climatologist. Talk to residents in some coastal communities of states like Florida and Georgia and ask them about the tidal flooding that’s already happening. Look at the open letter that BP, Shell and other oil companies wrote to the UN last year that said, “Climate change is a critical challenge for our world.” Ask the heads of our major energy companies—preferably in a quiet White House setting away from the glare of the media and Congressional members of your party—whether they are worried about climate change, like the 2/3 of Americans who took a Gallup survey earlier this year. New sources of clean energy could fuel a lot of new jobs that might otherwise land in China. And while neither of us may be the most religious of men, Genesis tells us that man was put in the Garden of Eden “to work it and keep it” (“keep” here can also be translated as “guard” or “protect”)—a biblical injunction to take care of the environment that many fellow citizens, including a large number who voted for you, take seriously.
I could go on with topics like these, but surely you’re aware that your administration could become badly tripped up by a wholly unforeseen crisis whose causes and solutions may be addressable by science and technology: a global pandemic spread by a drug-resistant pathogen, for example; or disease-carrying mosquitos colonizing large swaths of our country; or a giant oil spill burning out of control; or a furious superstorm exacerbated by rising sea levels. As a businessman, you must appreciate that it’s only prudent to find real scientific experts who can assess these kinds of risks and help you plan for contingencies.
If you want to bring America together, a great way to start is by declaring your respect for science, and by persuading those who deny the results of scientific enquiry to re-examine the evidence. From one president to a soon-to-be other, please consider it.
Respectfully,
Stan Fields
Stan Fields is Immediate Past President of the Genetics Society of America. The views expressed in his posts are his and are not necessarily endorsed by the Society.
View all posts by Stan Fields »Read more in
-
Hongyu Zhao joins GENETICS as new Senior Editor
A new senior editor is joining GENETICS in the Statistical Genetics and Genomics section. We’re excited to welcome Hongyu Zhao to the editorial team. Hongyu ZhaoSenior Editor Hongyu Zhao is the Ira V. Hiscock Professor of Biostatistics, Professor of Genetics, and Professor of Statistics and Data Science at Yale University. He received his BS in…
-
GSA Member Julio Molina Pineda Receives DeLill Nasser Award, Shines at TAGC 2024
“At any career stage, the GSA membership is an amazing investment for any genetics professional!” Julio Molina Pineda is a PhD Candidate in Cell and Molecular Biology and a Research Assistant at the University of Arkansas, and a Doctoral Academy Fellow at the Lewis Lab. In 2023, Julio was awarded the DeLill Nasser Award for…
-
In Memoriam: Ellsworth Herman Grell (1932–2023), a pioneer of Drosophila genome engineering and annotation
Ellsworth (Ed) Grell blessed the Drosophila community through three enduring legacies: as a pioneer of chromosome mechanics, as a primary organizer and synthesizer of genetic knowledge in Drosophila, and as a graceful mentor to those fortunate to have known him personally. Ed grew up in rural Nebraska, completed his undergraduate studies at Iowa State, and…
-
Congratulations to the #Fungal24 Poster Award winners!
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the GSA Poster Awards for posters presented at the 32nd Fungal Genetics Conference! Undergraduate and graduate student members of GSA were eligible for the awards, and a hard-working team of judges made the determinations. Congratulations to all! Felicia Ebot Ojong, The University of Georgia My research is focused…
-
Poster presentation tips for TAGC 2024
You’ve been selected to present a poster at The Allied Genetics Conference 2024 in March—you’ve celebrated, made plans to attend, now what? This is an exciting opportunity to showcase your research and engage with fellow members of the genetics community, so you want to make sure you’re prepared. We wanted to offer you some tips…
-
Maximize your TAGC 2024 experience
A guide to all that National Harbor & DC have to offer Are you joining us for The Allied Genetics Conference 2024 in March? Make the most of your #TAGC24 experience in National Harbor! We know the science will keep you busy, but you deserve to unwind and have some fun, so we’ve curated a…
-
Early Career Leadership Spotlight: Sarah Petrosky
We’re taking time to get to know the members of the GSA’s Early Career Scientist Committees. Join us to learn more about our early career scientist advocates. Sarah PetroskyMultimedia SubcommitteeUniversity of Pittsburgh Research Interest I am interested in understanding adaptation that has been happening recently in populations by dissecting the ways that genes underlying an adaptation…
-
TAGC 2024 Early Career Award Winners
GSA is pleased to announce the winners of the early career awards presented at The Allied Genetics Conference 2024. These awards are specific to particular TAGC communities and recognize early career scientists’ outstanding work on their respective research organisms. The awardees will present their talks in keynote sessions at TAGC 2024. Don’t miss the opportunity…
-
Preeminent geneticists recognized with revamped GSA Awards
In 2022, GSA’s Board of Directors launched an audit to review the five major awards conferred by the Society. Today, we are thrilled to announce the recipients of the reimagined GSA Awards, including the new Genetics Society of America Early Career Medal. The scientists honored this year are recognized by their peers for their outstanding…
-
Fly Board funds outreach programs to spread the word about Drosophila research
In 2020, the Fly Board voted to use part of its reserve fund to support efforts to increase trainee participation as well as equity and diversity in the Drosophila community. An awards committee decides how the money will be spent each year, and from 2020–2022, the committee posted a very broad call for applications from…
-
New members of the GSA Board of Directors: 2024–2026
We are pleased to announce the election of four new leaders to the GSA Board of Directors: 2024 Vice President/2025 President Brenda Andrews Professor, University of Toronto It’s an honor to continue my association with the Society by serving as Vice President of the Board of Directors. I have broad knowledge of the ongoing activities…