Both Nature[1] and Science[2] have come out to support the Democrat and to be repulsed by the Republican. Not having a horse in this race, I felt it was worth commenting upon the now grossly political nature of these long-time bastions of scientific facts. I have noticed since the Vietnam days that these organs have slowly morphed into political and policy documents which from time to time present compelling scientific insights. Let me address just a few issues;
1. COVID-19: Science states:
At home, Biden says he’ll work with governors and local officials to encourage greater use of physical distancing and masks—possibly even mandating their use at federal facilities and on federal lands. And he’s vowed to reverse the erosion of public trust in two key health agencies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), by appointing new leadership and improving the transparency of decision-making.
Let us examine the facts. The CDC lost public trust because of its own gross incompetence. As we have noted before on multiple occasions, we publicly knew the pandemic was upon us on January 29th with the publication in NEJM of the articles detailing the Wuhan epidemic. That was the clanging bell. Ironically from January 16 through February 6 the White House was engaged in the House initiated impeachment trial. Needless to say, a distraction but it should not have distracted the CDC. One must remember that most of the "leadership" of the CDC was a remnant of the previous administration. As to the FDA, is has a long reputation of being glacial in its movements, and often for good reason.
2. Iran: Now strangely this is an area that one surmises that Science has little to no expertise but regardless they opine:
Biden will move aggressively on several fronts. Many want the country to re-engage with Iran to revive the nuclear deal—from which Trump withdrew in 2018—that limited its ability to produce nuclear weapons. Biden says he will “offer Tehran a credible path back to diplomacy” if Iran “returns to strict compliance with the nuclear deal.”
My first experience with Iran was in 1979. We were working on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, CTBT, and building the seismic sensing network, Units were to be installed in northern Iran and people were in place when the Shah fell. Needless say they got out, by the hair of their teeth. Iran is a political time bomb, a clear and present danger, and putative nuclear threat. Trust goes just so far. It is clear that having isolated Iran has allowed a coalescing of the Arab states. That leads to a more stable bulwark against the Iranian nuclear threat.
3. China: Here I have a real issue. They state:
Another tough challenge will be establishing the rules for U.S. research collaborations with China. Under Trump, law enforcement agencies, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other agencies have stepped up investigations of scientists who failed to disclose funding ties to foreign institutions, leading to criminal, civil, and administrative punishments. Many of the known cases involve researchers who were born in China or had links to Chinese institutions. Critics say the effort has been racially tinged and has also hindered efforts to recruit foreign-born talent. They hope Biden will ease the scrutiny. But Biden has traditionally been a defense hawk, and China’s harsh treatment of Uighurs and other religious minorities may limit moves to ease tensions.
China is a massive political, economic, and military threat. One need do nothing more that re-read Mahan and his works on Pacific Oceanthreats. Mahan was a household name in Germany and Japan before WW II and even today in China. China has used the US as a stepping stone to both economic and scientific advance. While back at MIT from 2005-2012 I had the opportunity to deal with many mainland Chinese students. Very bright and being funded by such agencies as DARPA. Yes, our Military was funding a possible adversary! As they say, you cannot make this up. Most if not all returned elsewhere, taking with them invaluable information, contacts, and motivations for their home country. It was in the Clinton administration that the US first opened the door to massive technology transfer, legal and otherwise. It was a direct result of this open-door technology transfer that China managed to build Huawei, while companies such as Motorola who gave them the opportunity languished.
The greatest threat may very well be in the life sciences. China has clearly leapfrogged generations and is now on an almost equal standing with the US in terms of the biosciences. One need look no further than the literature in the field of various cancers and related therapies. This of course is a double-edged sword as we see from the current virus.
Should the US be wary of China and its scholars? Were we equally wary of Russian (Soviet) scholars? The answer is clearly in the affirmative.
4. Universities and Spending: The driver one suspects for this support is the promised increase in University support. Specifically, they note:
Keeping the economy afloat through the pandemic will require massive federal spending, Biden says, and he will likely ask lawmakers to approve a host of spending initiatives early in his term. Universities and research groups want some of the money, saying federal science agencies need tens of billions of dollars to help them recover from the pandemic.
However, one wonders what Universities have done to merit such support. In World War II, MIT and U Cal, Columbia, U Chicago and many others banded together to develop radar, weapons, and other strategic elements that allowed us to overcome the monsters who were destroying mankind. Since Vietnam, universities want money but seem to think there is no obligation to assist the nation. Where was the Rad Lab equivalent at MIT? Nowhere, in fact there was blatant opposition to anything supporting the effort to overcome the viral attack.
In contrast, it appears that we have great strides in therapeutics and vaccines, all from private industry. In this war against COVID, industry has stepped up with massive Government funding and most likely will deliver a vaccine early next year. Consider what Government has not done, no Ebola or AIDS vaccine. After billions of Government spending, and decades of AIDS effort, NIAID has delivered nearly nothing in AIDS and limited amounts in Ebola and other pandemic viral infections.
5. Government Workers: One must remember that there are millions of such workers. High Tech has siphoned off many highly competent people as has industry. The Government gets what is left.
Under Trump, many researchers who work for the federal government have said they don’t feel valued or respected. Employee surveys show job satisfaction at several science agencies has taken a nosedive, and there have been many anecdotal reports of researchers leaving their jobs. Biden says he wants to reverse that trend, starting by replacing Trump appointees who have suspect scientific credentials or hold views far out of the mainstream. “The house cleaning could be remarkable; in some cases you are going to see hacks who are flat-out science deniers replaced by appointees who not only understand the science, but have done it themselves,” says one lobbyist who requested anonymity because he still interacts with the Trump administration.
Government workers for the most part act as intermediaries. NIH does fundamental research but it also acts as an administrative organ managing external research funding. The "hacks" that the writer notes have always been with us. I have seen first hand in the Carter Administrations many such hacks. Go from one administration to another and the cast of characters may change but the characteristics do not. The "Plum Book" is an example of the list of the many favored positions given to supporters and their related friends. Our Government has always been populated at the high levels by political types.
Overall, the reasons noted have multiple facets. There is no clear path, some good and some not so good. Yet scientists must learn that this is the essence of politics…perhaps why Washington gave them a swamp for the Capitol.
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