Dear Steve:
I read your article (“Some Amazing Stats I Uncovered Prepping for the News 12 Debate,” March 19) with interest this morning. I want to caution you about repeating White House talking points with regard to science research. Please see the link below that the White House itself put out after Donald Trump mistakenly referred to Transgenic mice as “transgender.” Transgenic mice are a backbone of medical research in this country, allowing us to study a variety of diseases safely in mouse models way before anything comes near a human. https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/03/yes-biden-spent-millions-on-transgender-animal-experiments/
If you read the titles of the articles the White House referred to as proof of the transgender research funding that wasted $8 million, you can see that no one switched the gender of any mice. These were studies on the effects of hormones on various disease states and human development using mice to study it.
As a member of an industry that is facing near total destruction (biotech) by the forces acting on our government, trying to get efficiency and eliminate waste, I implore you to please get your facts correct when you present them to your readers. Too many people in this country have limited knowledge of science and technology. Perhaps our education system is to blame? However, those folks want cures and treatments for what ails them and their loved ones. The whole system is in peril, I can tell you that as a member of the industry — I see what is happening and it is very bad for progress and the biotech economy.
Further, please understand that the system for awarding research grants in the country is one of the most vetted systems in the world. Every study is examined and assessed thoroughly by a group of as many as 12 leaders in the field it concerns. Every aspect of the study is considered from the likelihood of success to the ability of the researchers, to the benefit of the science to medicine or even job creation in the U.S.! Sure, to laypeople, some of the studies may sound frivolous, but they are all vetted on their merits. We should not let a mob mentality poison the most successful research environment the world has ever known.
Sincerely,
Alan Kriegstein