GOVERNMENT
Government Shutdown: What Happens to Science?
photo credit
Figure 1: NIAMS Deputy Scientific Director Vittorio Sartorelli, M.D., (right) consults with postdoctoral fellow Benedetta Zaniboni, Ph.D. The NIAMS Laboratory of Muscle Stem Cells and Gene Regulation is an institute of the NIH that focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying specification, differentiation, and regeneration of skeletal muscle cells. During the shutdown, many experiments had to be put on hold. Image courtesy of National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
BY JOSHUA WAN
Introduction This past year’s political failure to produce a bipartisan federal funding agreement led to a 16-day government shutdown in October 2013, the effects of which reverberated through out all aspects of US government operations. Federal agencies, budget-less without congressional approval, were forced to implement contingency plans that called for the furlough of non-essential workers and cessation of non-essential activities. Science was among the government’s multitude of initiatives that experienced disruption.
Government in Science The US federal government is highly involved in scientific development. Several government organizations including the National 34
Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) fund billions of dollars of internal and external research. Scientific organizations sometimes operate as sub-divisions of larger groups, such as the Science and Technology Directorates (S&T) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Science and Technology Branch (STB) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Office of Research and Development (ORD) of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Other prominent agencies include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), National Institute of Standards and Technology DARTMOUTH UNDERGRADUATE JOURNAL OF SCIENCE