Remember that your opinion matters more now that you have established a positive relationship. Express your thanks if the Representative is supportive of biomedical research or state your concerns if the response is less than satisfying. Never threaten to withdraw support if you do not hear what you would like your Representative to say. Remember that you want to excite the Representative about the promise of biomedical research as opposed to just asking for federal money for research. New methods provide opportunities to detect genetically-determined predispositions to disease, to make early diagnosis of illness, and to produce vaccines against infectious diseases.
Biomedical research is cost effective.
Biotechnology can reduce costs by providing relatively inexpensive therapies produced in simple biological systems. This generates useful and profitable products and has supported the development of many satellite industries. Recombinant DNA technology will offer solutions to cope with environmental problems such as environmental contamination and cleanup, and limits the necessity of pesticides. Although funding for the study of many highly visible diseases such as AIDS has not been severely affected, support for many important programs, particularly fundamental research in basic biology, has been inadequate. These restrictions cause promising research to go unfunded and delays new discoveries required for practical applications.