I note fears that the Trump administration plans to cut funding for research on mRNA technology for vaccine development and other uses (27 March). The UK and other countries with global-level bioscience and associated research capabilities should now reap the benefits of decades of internal US investment. US academics from the biosciences and other fields are already beginning to trickle away from their beleaguered country.
The 1930s saw major moves to fund the migration of leading scientists and other intellectuals to the UK. Now is the time for our government to match the necessary increase in defence spending with a much cheaper programme to actively recruit those fleeing major US research facilities. This is a low-cost initiative with potential huge returns. A profitable transaction.
I write as someone who, for the last 20 years, has worked at leading UK research organisations including the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Royal Veterinary College and the London School of Economics. Let’s play our cards and reap the rewards.
Tony Barnett
Norwich
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