Introduction:
On January 16, 2021, US President-elect Biden, who has not been formally sworn in, announced the appointment of his presidential scientific advisory team and members of government scientific institutions. Among them, Eric Rand, a geneticist, was appointed as the president’s scientific adviser, and this position was promoted to the level of the president’s cabinet for the first time. Some commentators said that this indicates that the Biden administration plans to integrate scientific professionalism into all aspects of policy making.
In addition, there are four women in Biden’s seven appointments for leaders in the scientific field, which means that women will play a more important role in formulating scientific policies.
Author | Wang Yiwei Zhong Yingjie
Editor | Chen Xiaoxue
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On January 16th, US time, at the press conference held in Wilmington, Delaware, Joe Biden, the 37th President-elect of the United States, announced the appointment of the President’s scientific advisory team and members of government scientific institutions. Most of the members are scientists with outstanding professional achievements, and half of them are women. Biden said that this new team will be responsible for planning the scientific and technological development picture of the United States in the next 75 years.
"This team will help the American people restore their confidence and hope in the forefront of science and discovery in the United States." Biden said. [1]
Eric Lander, a geneticist and professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was appointed as the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) under the Executive Office of the President, that is, the president’s scientific adviser, becoming the first life scientist to hold this position. Previously, this position was vacant for one and a half years during Trump’s tenure, until January 2019, when meteorologist Kelvin Droegemeier took office. Some critics believe that although Calvin is widely respected academically, he has not made achievements in promoting scientific development during Trump’s tenure [2].
Therefore, Biden put forward the OSTP candidate before he officially took office, which is considered to highlight his emphasis on science.
At the same time, Rand was appointed as the chief scientific adviser of the Presidential Council of Science and Technology (PCAST), and this position was also promoted to the level of the President’s Cabinet. The President’s Cabinet is the federal administrative department of the United States, which assists the President in exercising the executive power. Its members generally include the Vice President, the Secretary of State, ministers of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of National Defense, and cabinet-level officials include the Chief of Staff of the White House and representatives to the United Nations. This change is the first time in American history that the president’s chief scientific adviser has enjoyed this treatment.
"The promotion of this position to the cabinet clearly indicates that this government plans to integrate scientific professionalism into every aspect of policy formulation." Sudip Parikh, executive chairman of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), said in a response statement. [3]
According to Nature magazine, many scientists have called for this position to be promoted to cabinet level. "In my opinion, it is a very positive step to raise science to its proper position in administrative institutions." Harold Varmus, a professor at Weill Cornell Medical College and former president of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), said, "I think this marks a very important moment in the history of government science." [4]
Rand is a pioneer in the field of genomics, leading the transnational and interdisciplinary giant scientific engineering human genome project launched in the 1990s, which aims to map the human genome. He is also the co-founder of Broad Institute jointly established by Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Feng Zhang, a well-known Chinese scientist in China, and David Liu, a Chinese scientist, are both core members of Broad Institute.
"I appreciated Dr. Rand’s extraordinary mind when he was the co-chairman of the Obama-Biden administration’s Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology," Biden said at the press conference. "I am very happy that we can cooperate again." [1]
In his letter of appointment to Rand on January 15th [5], Biden asked Rand and his colleagues five questions closely related to scientific development and social progress:
1. What experiences of the epidemic tell us what we can and should do to meet the needs of public health?
2. How can scientific and technological breakthroughs help solve the problem of climate change?
3. In the face of China’s competition, how to ensure that the United States will maintain a leading position in science and technology and industry in the future?
How to ensure that every American enjoys the benefits of scientific and technological achievements?
5. How to ensure the healthy development of American science and technology in the long run?
Biden compared these five questions with the four questions that Roosevelt asked his science and technology adviser Vanne nerval Bush in 1944. Bush replied with the report Science-Endless Frontier, which laid the foundation for the scientific development of the United States in the following decades.
Biden hopes that the scientific team he formed this time can also make important suggestions for the United States in the next 75 years.
"… we must refresh and revitalize our national science and technology strategy so that we can embark on a solid road in the next 75 years, so that our future generations can live in a healthier, safer, more just, peaceful and prosperous world." Biden said, "This work will require us to gather the brightest minds in academia, medicine, industry and government, break down the obstacles that often limit our vision and progress, and give priority to the needs, interests, fears and wishes of Americans." [5]
Rand said at the press conference on January 16, "He is very much looking forward to this work that will expand the" endless frontier of science ". "Today we face unprecedented opportunities and challenges in Dou Shi," he said, "and our president-elect knows that science and technology are particularly critical in the face of this moment." [1]
Some scientists also expressed their views on Rand’s assumption of this post.
"I have mixed feelings." Michael Eisen, a computational biologist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, tweeted, "Rand has always been dishonest and’ shit’. But he is really good at organizing large-scale projects (perhaps the most important aspect of his job at present) and advocating science. And he is 10000 times better than before. " In a blog post in 2016, Essen criticized Rand for distorting the contributions of several scientists in the development of CRISPR technology, calling it an "evil genius". But he also had to admit that Biden’s choice of Rand as a consultant was timely and appropriate. [6]
Paying attention to experts is the characteristic of Biden’s team, which has been reflected in his election platform [7]. This time, he nominated Nobel Prize winner and chemist Frances H. Arnold and geophysicist and planetary scientist Maria Zuber as the co-chairmen of PCAST [8].
In the OSTP framework, he appointed Alondra Nelson, an expert in the field of science and technology policy and social inequality and a professor at Princeton Institute for Advanced Studies, as the deputy director of the Science and Technology Office, responsible for the affairs in the field of science and society, and appointed Narda Jones, a senior technical policy adviser to the government, as the director of legislative affairs.
Nelson said in the speech that day that science is essentially a social phenomenon. "When we provide input to algorithms, when we write programs for devices, when we design, test and study, we are making choices. ”[9]
Nelson said that it is very important who makes these choices and who is considered when making them. Therefore, this is why she has been trying to understand the views of people and communities who have not made input commands but still have to coexist with output. She said that it is necessary to ensure that the direction of scientific development is correct, or that the development of science needs these values: equality, responsibility, justice and credibility. [9]
A Londra Nelson Source: https://mellon.org/news-blog/articles/Alondra-Nelson-joins-mellon-foundations-board-trusts/
Nalda Jones Source: https://buildbackbetter.gov/
It is worth noting that these four members are all women and have made outstanding contributions in their respective research fields. Biden also emphasized in his speech that the team of the co-chairs of his presidential adviser is the first "all-woman team".
Francis Arnold Source: https://buildbackbetter.gov/
Francis Arnold, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018, worked as a taxi driver and a jazz bar waiter before entering the scientific field. She is currently the director of the Rosen Bioengineering Center of California Institute of Technology, the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in chemistry, and the first woman to be elected as an academician of the National Academy of Science, Medical College and Engineering College. She once suffered from breast cancer, but survived after torturous surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
"She is an inspiring role model for scientists in the field and the people of the whole country." Biden said.
"Science is not a cold solution," Arnold said in his speech that day. "It is a warm and beautiful exploration of the unknown and an expression of human curiosity. It pushes us forward and enables us to fulfill our most important responsibilities."
Maria Zuber Source: https://buildbackbetter.gov/
Maria Zuber, born in 1958, is an astronomer. Since 2012, she has been the vice president of research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At present, she is the chief researcher of the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission under NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
She used to be a research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. In 2003, she joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the head of the Department of Earth, Atmosphere and Planetary Science, and was the first female leader of the Department of Science at MIT. Zubo has participated in at least six NASA planetary missions to map the moon, Mars, Mercury and several asteroids.
Zuber’s research focuses on the structure and construction of solid solar system objects. She is a pioneer in measuring the surface shapes of inner planets (namely, the four planets closest to the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars), and explains that the surface shapes are good at determining the inner structure and evolution of planets, thermal history and the interaction between the surface and the atmosphere. She has obtained more accurate topographic maps on Mars and the moon than on the earth, and explained the effects of the surface shapes of planets on the inner structure and dynamics, thermal history and the interaction between the surface and the atmosphere.
另外，拜登还提名美国科学促进会（AAAS）科技政策资深顾问小泉敬（Kei Koizumi）为科学技术政策办公室主管（OSTP Chief of Staff），参与领导美国联邦科学预算；弗朗西斯·科林斯（Francis Collins）继续担任美国国家卫生院（NIH）院长。
曾担任美国科学促进会科技政策资深顾问的Kei Koizumi将负责评审美国联邦政府科学预算。来源： https://buildbackbetter.gov/
弗朗西斯·柯林斯将在拜登任期内继续担任美国国立卫生研究院院长。来源： https://buildbackbetter.gov/
在当选为美国总统前，拜登曾宣布任期内将重点推进癌症研究 [10]。发布会中，拜登提到2015年宣布不参与当年总统竞选时，曾说有一个遗憾，即无法作为总统推进癌症研究、治愈癌症。而此次任职后，他将“全力以赴”。
演讲中，拜登用一个小故事定义了他眼中的美国。在一次对中国的访问中，习近平主席问他，能否解释美国是一个什么样的国家。拜登则回答了一个词：“可能性（possibilities）。”
Biden said that "possibility" is exactly what the candidates appointed this time and the institutions they lead represent.
Biden will become the president of the United States at the inauguration ceremony on January 20th.
"The United States attaches more importance to science, and its relations with China are still unclear." China biologist Rao Yi commented on Biden’s science-related appointment.
Biden wrote to Rand:
I want to give you and your colleagues five questions.
January 15, 2021
To Dr. Eric S. Lander, Ph.D), Chairman and Co-founder of Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
Dear Rand,
In 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a letter to Dr. Nivard Bush, then a scientific adviser. He asked how to make the most effective use of science and technology to benefit people’s health, economic prosperity and national security in the decades after World War II. Dr. Bush answered with a report entitled "Science—the Endless Frontier", which became the foundation of the National Science Foundation and laid the foundation for American scientific exploration in the next 75 years.
During those years, some of the most important scientific progress appeared in human history, which was dominated by the United States. But after three quarters of a century, our life has changed. Technology and industry rise and fall, and the emergence of digital arena redefines the way we innovate, communicate and experience the world. The original meaning of the word "discovery" has changed by leaps and bounds, spanning the dome of the sky and the exquisite microstructure, which was unimaginable not long ago.
Therefore, I think it is essential that we innovate and revitalize our national science and technology strategy so that we can embark on a solid road in the next 75 years, so that our future generations can live in a healthier, safer, more just, peaceful and more prosperous world. This work needs to bring together the smartest minds in academia, medicine, industry and government-to break through the limitations of our previous horizons and obstacles to progress, and to give priority to the needs, interests, fears and aspirations of the American people.
President Roosevelt asked Dr. Bush four specific questions. Now, I want to give you and your colleagues five questions. I hope you can have extensive and transparent cooperation with diversified scientific leading institutions in American society, and let the American public participate in it, and make suggestions to the American government on the overall strategy, specific actions and new structure that the federal government should adopt, so as to ensure that our country can continue to make full use of the power of science and technology and protect the interests of the American people.
1. What experience of the epidemic tells us what we can or should do to meet the extensive needs related to our public health system?
Even though we are still actively responding to the COVID-19 epidemic, we should start from the challenges, inequalities and opportunities we are facing at the moment and accumulate experience so as to better prepare for the future.
How can we rapidly improve our ability to respond to the threat of pathogens, including emerging epidemics, potential biological weapons and antibiotic resistance? How can we accelerate the development and development of clinical trials for other types of diseases, such as cancer? How can we share health information quickly with the consent of patients, so as to build a smarter and more efficient medical system? How to use telemedicine to help us improve the health of all Americans?
2. How can breakthroughs in science and technology provide new powerful solutions to climate change-promoting market-driven changes, boosting economic growth, improving health and increasing employment opportunities, especially for backward communities?
Climate change is a threat to human existence, and we need to take effective measures quickly. But at the same time, the necessity of solving this problem also provides us with a rare opportunity to make pioneering investments in infrastructure, enhance the adaptability of the United States, promote environmental justice, create new cutting-edge industries and millions of high-paying jobs, and enhance the leading position of the United States in future generations.
In order to realize our promise of zero carbon emissions in 2050, we need to effectively use the existing cost-effective clean energy technology made in the United States; Using innovative carbon capture and storage technology; And stimulate the technological creativity of the United States to develop new zero-carbon technologies that can reshape the market. These efforts will strengthen our economy, continue to create high-paying union jobs in communities across the country, and re-establish America’s leading position in global climate change.
The United States has a long history of successful bipartisan support in using federal research, procurement and policies to help start key industries, including, for example, the semiconductor industry that we dominated at that time. How can we update this model to provide our children with a healthier, safer, more prosperous and more sustainable future, while protecting our natural environment for future generations?
3. How can the United States ensure that it is in the leading position in the world, especially in the competition with China, in the future technologies and industries that are vital to the economic prosperity and national security of the United States?
From artificial intelligence to synthetic biology, the cycle of new technology change is getting faster and faster, which promises the change of our lives. Every technology brings different promises and challenges, and each one may have a great impact on jobs, equality and national security.
Other countries, especially China, are making unprecedented investments and doing their best to promote the growth of emerging industries, which hides the leading position of the United States in science and technology. Our future depends on our ability to keep pace with our competitors in these fields that determine the future economy.
The correct strategy of the United States must be different from our competitors, but it may also be different from our past tactics. What is the correct national investment standard? What are the pillars of a national strategy that can rapidly promote the research and development of key technologies? What structure, infrastructure and policies are needed to accelerate the road from R&D laboratory to development project to market? How can we strengthen and expand the links between academia, industry and government, which has always been the key to technological progress and national security protection in the past? And, importantly, how can we ensure that technological progress creates rather than reduces high-quality jobs?
4. How can we ensure that the achievements of science and technology are fully shared in the United States and among all Americans?
The benefits brought by science and technology are still unevenly distributed in different races, genders, economic conditions and geographical areas. How can we ensure that Americans of all backgrounds are included in the production and return of science and technology? How can we ensure the prosperity and development of science and technology centers throughout the United States and promote the economic development of every urban and rural area in the United States? How can we ensure that medical progress is beneficial to the health of all Americans, including greatly reducing the health differences caused by racial and socio-economic factors?
5. How to ensure the long-term healthy development of American science and technology?
The vigorous development of science and technology in the United States benefits from the rich ecosystem of population, policies and institutions. Only by cultivating and renewing this ecosystem can we succeed in a rapidly changing world.
How can we protect the scientific integrity within the government and make the government the first choice for scientists and technicians? How can we solve the emphasis on academic research laboratories and promote innovative models to obtain federal research support? How can we re-conceive and transform STEM education (note: science, technology, engineering and mathematics), empower teachers and effectively use technology to enhance the educational experience? How can we ensure that America will continue to attract the brightest minds in the world?
I believe that the answers to these questions are very important and will help our country embark on a new road in the future-a road full of dignity and respect, prosperity and security, progress and common goals. To be sure, these are big problems, but they will not be greater than the ability of the United States to solve these problems. I look forward to receiving your suggestions and hope to cooperate with you, your team and the wider scientific community to turn them into various solutions to reduce the daily burden of the American people, stimulate new jobs and opportunities, and restore America’s leading position on the world stage.
Sincerely,
Joseph R. Biden, Jr
The letter was translated by Ming Qian.
references
1. Biden’s speech on January 16th https://buildbackbetter.gov/speeches/remarks-announcing-key-science-advisors-as-prepared-for-delivery-by-president-elect-Joe-Biden-in-Wilmington-Delaware/
2. Report from The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/15/science/biden-science-cabinet.html
3. https://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/2021-01/AAAS%20Statement%20on%20Science%20Appointments%20in%20the%20Biden%20Administration.pdf
4. Nature interview
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00118-8
5. Biden’s letter of appointment to Rand
https://buildbackbetter.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/OSTP-Appointment. pdf
6. http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/? p=1825
7. What do scientists think of Biden’s winning the US election? http://zhishifenzi.com/depth/depth/10353.html
8. https://buildbackbetter.gov/press-releases/president-elect-biden-announces-key-members-of-his-white-house-science-team/
9. https://buildbackbetter.gov/speeches/remarks-as-prepared-for-delivery-by-white-house-science-team-nominees-and-appointees-in-wilmington-delaware/
10. Biden vowed that "if elected president, we will cure cancer". How difficult is it to overcome cancer?
http://zhishifenzi.com/depth/depth/10382.html