‘Kicking the can’: science, Congress and a Ponzi scheme

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AIDS researcher Yuntao Wu, Professor of microbiology and infectious diseases at George Mason University (Manassas, VA USA), is finding imaginative ways to maintain his cell lines, not to mention his life's work on developing therapeutics against HIV infection. As his funding from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has dried up, Wu has become dependent on the kindness of strangers and friends to cover the US$3,000 a month he needs to keep his lab running. To help repay a US$35,000 loan from his university, he has so far raised more than US$21,000 on CrowdRise, a crowd‐sourced fundraising website. In previous years, Wu had little trouble funding his research the ‘usual’ way. He received more than US$1 million in grant money from NIH over the past 4 years, and his lab published 18 papers in that period. But his application to renew the grant for another 5 years was rejected this past spring. Wu blames the tight NIH budget. Desperate for funds, he is now applying to other sections of the US National Institute for Allergy and Infection Diseases to see whether they will be more forthcoming than the molecular biology section that did not renew his grant. He expects to hear this month whether he will receive any NIH money, as the 16‐day government shutdown in October last year delayed the grant review process. Wu's grant applications are not the only ones to be affected by the shutdown: The closure of the government temporarily delayed the assessment of 300,000 extramural research groups for funding. Another 14,000 NIH scientists—designated as ‘non‐essential’ federal employees—were sent home, virtually closing some laboratories. Though the obvious effects of the shutdown were temporary, there are concerns about the longer‐term consequences of the unstable funding environment. In an 11th hour deal, leaders from the conservative‐dominated House of Representatives …