It was a sweet Friday afternoon for the demonstrators gathered on the green lawn of Klyde Warren Park, their arms stretched by holding signs.
“Science saves lives!” A sign read.
“America is great because of science,” said a second.
“Defend science!” proclaimed a third.
The third sign alluded to the reason why the group of around 80 scientists, many of whom are generally dressed in white laboratory blouses, braved time for 80 degrees for a demonstration.
In the United States, scientists organized similar demonstrations on Friday under a single call to arms: “defending science”.
The demonstration, shaped after Walking for scientific gatherings In 2017, during President Donald Trump’s first term, aims to “defend science as a public good and pillar of social, political and economic progress”, ” According to the flagship website.
The organizers also have specific requests, such as fighting for the end of censorship and political interference in science; Protect and restore diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility within the sciences funded by the government; and restore funding for federal research.
The national demonstrations occur while the Trump administration aims to reduce the National Institutes of Health Budget by $ 4 billion.
The cup, announced at the beginning of last month And not yet promulgated, aims to reduce Indirect costs For all NIH subsidies, cost caps at a rate of 15%. The Trump administration has described these costs as general costs.
Budget cuts are part of a broader overhaul of the Trump administration which has seen dismissal in all federal agenciesas well as the Fermontage of government programs.
Last month, A Federal Massachusetts judge stopped the Trump administration to make the NIH cups after 22 prosecutors of state filed a complaint. This block was extended this week and the Trump administration had to call it, Reuters reported.
Research institutions have said that the Expenditure is vital To support the research infrastructure. This includes the purchase of laboratory equipment and technologies and the payment of support staff.
Local scientists have said The Dallas Morning News That, if it were approved, the NIH cuts hindered medical discoveries and innovation, would stifle economic growth and on the break of clinical trials.
Ray Macdonald, former professor at the Southwestern Medical Center, used to study organogenesis, or how a mass of embryonic cells turns into body organs.
“It feels good (to rally), but it also looks like an obligation at so many different levels,” said Macdonald, 72, who retired from UTSW five years ago. “After a while, you get too angry. You have to try to do something, so I try to get involved. »»
While the demonstrators moved to the sidewalk parallel to the Woodall Rodgers motorway, McKenna Pratt was holding a panel supporting the research on endometriosis.
The 23 -year -old native of South Carolina works as a research technician at the University of Texas in Dallas and was recently accepted in a program of higher education at the Pittsburgh University.
This acceptance is in limbo, because the scientist Pratt hopes that working has not yet obtained its financing from the NIH. Pratt’s voice was stable on the cars’ cacophony that passed in support of the rallies.
“I am here because, in the end, I believe in science,” said Pratt, who spoke for her and not her university. “It’s my passion.”
For Pratt, who hopes to pursue a career in science, the uncertainty of the future of NIH financing is difficult to face.
“I think we grew up in an interesting period when we were exposed to a lot, just being the generation that grew up with the Internet,” said Pratt. “It is therefore this feeling of knowing a lot, of having a lot of access to a lot, but everything is always in the air.”
Erin Lauraine, 42, expects to obtain his baccalaureate diploma in psychology from the UT Dallas next semester. The native of Oregon with a laboratory layer Mohawk and Braided Blanche spoke of his education in an atheist fundamentalist house and how, surprisingly, distant him from science during most of his life.
His motivation to rally to “stand up for science” was simple: it is a reminder that science is at the heart of humanity.
“I believe that each human is a scientist,” said Lauraine. “We know it in our habits. We see it in our lives when we take more time to water our plants or take a multivitamin. We know these little things add up. So, a single demonstration will change everything? No, but is it a small step towards the right direction? Absolutely.”
Miriam Fauzia is a scientific reporting scholarship at Dallas Morning News. His scholarship is supported by the University of Texas in Dallas. The news makes all editorial decisions.