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S. HRG. 110–1209 2006 NOBEL LAUREATES HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND INNOVATION OF THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION MAY 2, 2007 Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 79–907 PDF WASHINGTON : 2013 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 09:23 Mar 19, 2013 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\GPO\DOCS\79907.TXT JACKIE SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii, Chairman JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia TED STEVENS, Alaska, Vice Chairman JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota TRENT LOTT, Mississippi BARBARA BOXER, California KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas BILL NELSON, Florida OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine MARIA CANTWELL, Washington GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada MARK PRYOR, Arkansas JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware JIM DEMINT, South Carolina CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri DAVID VITTER, Louisiana AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota JOHN THUNE, South Dakota MARGARET L. CUMMISKY, Democratic Staff Director and Chief Counsel LILA HARPER HELMS, Democratic Deputy Staff Director and Policy Director CHRISTINE D. KURTH, Republican Staff Director and General Counsel KENNETH R. NAHIGIAN, Republican Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND INNOVATION JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts, Chairman JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada, Ranking JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas BARBARA BOXER, California GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon MARIA CANTWELL, Washington JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire MARK PRYOR, Arkansas JIM DEMINT, South Carolina CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri JOHN THUNE, South Dakota AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 09:23 Mar 19, 2013 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\79907.TXT JACKIE C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on May 2, 2007 ................................................................................. 1 Statement of Senator Boxer .................................................................................... 3 Statement of Senator Klobuchar ............................................................................ 30 Statement of Senator Pryor .................................................................................... 1 Statement of Senator Stevens ................................................................................ 2 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 2 WITNESSES Fire, Dr. Andrew, Departments of Pathology and Genetics, Stanford Univer- sity School of Medicine ........................................................................................ 10 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 10 Kornberg, Dr. Roger, Winzer Professor in Medicine, Stanford University ......... 4 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 6 Mather, Dr. John C., Chief Scientist, Science Mission Directorate, NASA ........ 15 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 15 Mello, Ph.D., Craig C., Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and the Blais University Chair in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachu- setts Medical School ............................................................................................. 13 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 13 Smoot, Ph.D., George, Senior Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Labora- tory, Professor of Physics, University of California, Berkeley ......................... 18 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 19 APPENDIX Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Mark Pryor to Dr. Roger Kornberg ............................................................................................................... 35 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 09:23 Mar 19, 2013 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\79907.TXT JACKIE VerDate Nov 24 2008 09:23 Mar 19, 2013 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\DOCS\79907.TXT JACKIE 2006 NOBEL LAUREATES WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 2007 U.S. SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND INNOVATION, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 4:02 p.m. in room SR–253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Mark Pryor, pre- siding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARK PRYOR, U.S. SENATOR FROM ARKANSAS Senator PRYOR. The Committee will come to order, and we will have probably at least one or two more Senators come and go. We have a very busy Committee schedule today on the Senate side. But, on behalf of Chairman Inouye and Vice Chairman Stevens and Senators Kerry, Ensign, and Boxer, and the Science, Technology, and Innovation Subcommittee, I would like to welcome our distin- guished guests and the 2006 Nobel Laureates in Chemistry, Medi- cine, and Physics. Taken together, these gentlemen represent the first American sweep of the science Nobel Prize categories since 1983. Their achievement will, I hope, inspire young people to study science and inspire policymakers to rededicate themselves to preserving Amer- ica’s role as the world’s preeminent scientific nation. For the past half-century, the United States’ investment in basic research has been the engine that drives our economy. In 1945, Vannevar Bush submitted his report, ‘‘Science: The Endless Fron- tier,’’ to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt that spurred the cre- ation of a system of public support for university research that en- dures to this day. The goal of basic research is to discover new scientific ideas, principles, and theories. Nobody can predict the next breakthrough in science; however, the connection between basic research and the economy is straightforward. Basic research produces the discov- eries that, through innovation, become the products that transform and strengthen our economy. The American Association for the Advancement of Science re- ports that the overall Federal investment in research and develop- ment would increase to $143 billion in Fiscal Year 2008. However, in a repeat of past budgets, the continuing administration priorities of weapons and space vehicles development would take up the en- tire increase, and more. Funding for the basic and applied research (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 09:23 Mar 19, 2013 Jkt 075679 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\GPO\DOCS\79907.TXT JACKIE 2 portion of the R&D portfolio would actually fall by 2.1 percent, to $55.5 billion. As a percentage of GDP, the U.S. Federal investment in physical sciences and engineering research has dropped by half since 1970. Gains by NSF, NIST, and the DOE Office of Science would be more than offset by cuts in other research agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health. These investments, while welcome, overall, raise the question of whether the United States will continue to make the sufficiently balanced investment necessary to maintain its own capacity for scientific discovery and technological innova- tion and remain a leading player in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. Last week, the U.S. Senate passed S. 761, the America COM- PETES Act. This bill is based heavily on the recommendations of the National Academies’ report, ‘‘Rising Above the Gathering Storm.’’ I’m proud to be a cosponsor of the legislation. The America COMPETES Act calls for a doubling of the basic research budgets of the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Stand- ards and Technology, and Department of Energy Office of Science. I hope that this legislation will begin to restore our science re- search infrastructure and competitive edge. I look forward to working with Chairman Inouye and Vice Chair- man Stevens, to incorporate the recommendations that we hear today as we move forward on the bill. Now, I would like to turn the program over to the Vice Chair, Senator Stevens of Alaska, and let him make some opening state- ments. STATEMENT OF HON. TED STEVENS, U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA Senator STEVENS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I’ve been honored to be with these gentlemen earlier today. I will put my statement in the record and will look forward to hearing from them here again. [The prepared statement of Senator Stevens follows:] PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. TED STEVENS, U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing today. It is quite a privilege to be able to hear from some of the brightest scientific minds in the world. It has been more than 20 years since Americans have won Nobel Prizes for medi- cine, chemistry, and physics all in the same year. I would like to congratulate all of the witnesses for their remarkable achievements. From the microscopic to the as- tronomical, the research conducted by these individuals is remarkable and will fur-