Yale Labs Seeded by Stimulus Act Threatened by Program's Demise
By Pat Wechsler
August 31, 2010
Yale University had originally planned to purchase two DNA sequencing machines from San Diego- based Illumina Inc., spending $800,000 to help genetic researchers at the school do their work. Then, in February 2009, the Obama stimulus act kicked in.
Instead, the New Haven, Connecticut, school bought eight sequencers for $3.2 million. It now has 12 machines that spit out data 24 hours a day for stimulus-funded experiments. These projects are among 18,568 receiving about $8.2 billion set aside over two years for biomedical research.
While the money helped create jobs and seed innovative ideas, university officials and researchers say worthwhile initiatives will be threatened when the program ends on Sept. 30. Research projects will shrink within the year, jobs will be cut and, in 2011, scientists with funding proposals based on out-of-the-box theories may lose out to more established researchers who set goals they’re likely to reach, they say.
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