Jon Noring suggests an Immunology Research Initiative, the goal being
to acquire as much basic knowledge of immunology as quickly as possible.
Speaking as a recent Ph.D. in Immunology, I am fairly certain my
colleagues would welcome however many millions of dollars you would
like to throw in our direction. Allow me to point out, however, that
we (meaning everyone with the possible exception of the Tobacco
Research Institute) generally accept that:
(1) Smoking is bad for you.
(2) Drinking excessively is bad for you.
(3) Exercise is good for you.
(4) A high fat diet is bad for you.
Yet:
(1) People still smoke.
(2) People still drink.
(3) People still don't get off the couch.
(4) I'm embarrassed to admit what I had for lunch.
There is a lot of very interesting research going on in the field
of immunology. There is a lot of good work which is not going on
because of lack of funding. To fund the work because it is
worthwhile is one thing. To fund a massive amount of work in
hopes it improves the general health of the nation ----------
well, I'm afraid I'm a little too cynical to buy into that one.
Joel Schildbach
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Joel F. Schildbach, Ph.D
Dept. of Biology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA 02139
joel at rosa.mit.edu (phone) (617) 253-3149
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