Ricki Lewis

 

My retirement lasted a mere two months, December and January, as 2024 became 2025. As science in the US is being destroyed at every level, I can't remain silent.

 

So I'm back to writing my blog DNA Science for Public Library of Science, and revising my human genetics textbook.

 

I never imagined what is happening now. But I can imagine what will be a decade from now.

 

Infectious diseases will return and resurge, as vaccines vanish under a tsunami of fear and misinformation.

 

The processes of mutation, recombination, and natural selection will seed new epidemics and pandemics that will spread ever more readily as climate change accelerates.

 

We will have no new gene or cell therapies, no new targeted cancer drugs, no new disease screens for newborns, no more novel diagnostics, and no more discoveries as preclinical research collapses. Cutting the pipeline of graduate students on their way to becoming scientists will reverberate for decades.

 

All of us who love science must speak up, write, or call. We must all do something. We cannot let ignorance and arrogance kill us.

 

 

Ricki Lewis