As a probable beneficiary of such a program (I do a lot
of immune-system related research), I still have a hard
time embracing such a concept. In contrast to the genome
project, which has a relatively easily-defined goal
(the sequence of the human genome, and genomes of other
organisms), it is harder to define a single goal of
a massive "immune system" project. Thus a hard sell, politically.
There is a truly massive amount of immunology research
going on right now. If it were to be redirected in some
way, one would have to define better what the endpoint
of the new effort would be, what methods would be employed
to get to that endpoint, and why those methods are better
than those in use now.
Brian
