I was casually reading the New York Times this morning when I came upon this article about funding cuts for scientific research on, among other things, treatment and cures for all sorts of diseases and medical conditions.. This section made my hair stand on end:

Growing up in a small town in Alaska, Alyssa Connell had dreamed of a career as a doctor and researcher in Boston. She cried when an email arrived in December, offering her a coveted spot in a dual degree program at the UMass Chan Medical School, an hour west of the city.

Ms. Connell cried again last month when another email upended her plans: The university was rescinding all offers of admission to Ph.D. programs for this fall “due to ongoing uncertainties related to federal funding of biomedical research.”

“It was a gut punch,” said Ms. Connell, 23, a teaching assistant and research technologist at Penn State University, where her work is focused on neurodegenerative disease.

THAT’S US, PEOPLE WITH PARKINSON’S. THIS IS PERSONAL!

So far, only her Ph.D. program acceptance has been rescinded, so she still plans to enroll this fall at the UMass medical school. But her financial aid package, which would have covered the cost of both degrees, was canceled, she said.

“I don’t know how I’m going to pay rent, but hopefully I’ll figure it out, and still find a way to participate in research,” she said. “I’m still very excited about moving to Boston.”

Not only does government funding fuel research into cures for diseases, it also incites new business ventures that arise from research, creating a huge sector of the economy in Boston and other biotech hubs.

Please do read the article. If you believed that funding for scientific research was money wasted, you might want to give it more thought.