The basic research funding promised by presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama should not be a victim of the economic collapse, said a science adviser to Obama yesterday. Instead, it should be seen as a way to strengthen the economy.
Prior to the economic downturn, both Sen. John McCain and Obama promised to double funding in basic science research. Such research is the foundation of practical advances, but the advances are hard to predict and can take decades to materialize. (To pick two examples among many: a Nobel-winning technique for illuminating cell development started with jellyfish research, while a breakthrough cancer drug started with tree bark analyses.) As a result, basic research funding is often seen as a frivolous expense.
But in a talk delivered to the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing conference in Palo Alto, California, Obama science advisor and Stanford University plant biologist Sharon Long said she would advise that basic funding should survive the budget tightening of either candidate.
Asked whether Obama would still stand by that promise, Long responded, "The answer is, how can we afford not to?" She said that basic research was acknowledged as essential to scientific advancements.
"You've got to think, how are we going to get ourselves out of this? And if science and technology gives you a better increase on investment than anything else, it's still the right thing to do," she said. "That would be my advice."
The McCain campaign declined an invitation to have a science adviser speak at the conference.
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