Among his many calls to action in the state of the union address, President Barack Obama defended research funding against the potential cuts from the sequester. It was gratifying to see a clear illustration of the value of government research and government funding for research.
“Today, our scientists are mapping the human brain to unlock the answers to Alzheimer’s; developing drugs to regenerate damaged organs; devising new material to make batteries ten times more powerful. Now is not the time to gut these job-creating investments in science and innovation.”
He mentioned the human genome project, mapping the human brain and 3D printers and said the country needs to invest in technology research than we did at the height of the Space Race.
“Every dollar we invested to map the human genome returned $140 to our economy,” he said.
The Economic Impact of the Human Genome Project study from 2011 shows that the government’s $3.8 billion investment in the mapping project generated an economic impact of $796 billion.
“In 2010 alone, genomics directly supported more than 51,000 jobs, and indirectly supported more than 310,000 jobs, according to the Battelle study. This created $20 billion in personal income and added $67 billion to the U.S. economy.
“The government has even been repaid for its HGP spending. Last year, tax revenues returned to federal, state and local governments nearly equaled the entire 13-year investment in the HGP. Genomics-enabled industry generated more than $3.7 billion in federal taxes and $2.3 billion in U.S. state and local taxes in 2010.”
President Obama’s 2013 State of the Union Speech (Transcript)