The passing of James Watson this month is a reminder of how much of our health and prosperity we owe to fundamental science discoveries that often take decades to bear practical fruit — and of how much we stand to lose if we fail to cultivate that orchard (“James D. Watson, 1928-2025: Nobel laureate who co-discovered DNA’s double helix,” Page A1, Nov. 8).
Throughout my four decades as a scientist and professor, the United States has been the preeminent destination for the brightest and most creative minds, attracting generations of people like Watson, Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin, and Maurice Wilkins to our classrooms, laboratories, and start-ups. Funding cuts, visa restrictions, and assaults on the scientific enterprise itself threaten to turn the next generation’s innovators away from our borders or away from science altogether. We will never know what we’ve lost — until it emerges in China.
Even as Democrats combat the daily challenges and outrages of the current administration, I call on Representative Katherine Clark, House minority whip, and other members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation to continue to advocate for our country’s long-term leadership in scientific research.
Roger G. Tobin
Belmont
The writer is a professor of physics at Tufts University.