We must reexamine and reshape our science policy both to sustain AmericaUs preeminence in science and to facilitate the role of science in the broader national interest. These activities have become more and more dependent on the discoveries of fundamental biology research, often at the molecular level. Knowledge of the molecular basis of genetic diseases, for example, will permit design of effective new treatments such as gene therapy. The importance of broad strength in science is evidenced by the increasing role in biology and medicine of tools developed in the physical sciences, such as magnetic resonance imagers whose beginnings were in nuclear physics, or lasers that originated in fundamental atomic and molecular physics research, or the accelerators and instrumentation developed in the quest to understand subatomic particles. Research is also essential in social and behavioral science for developing effective public health strategies for preventing disease.
Prosperity requires technological innovation.
Basic scientific and engineering research is essential for training innovative scientists and engineers, for many technology improvements, and for achieving the revolutionary advances that create new industries. Biotechnology and optical communications are two examples, and others will follow. For example, fundamental science and engineering will yield capabilities, unimaginable only a few years ago, to design and build new materials whether electronic or biomolecular. Applications will span areas as diverse as civil infrastructure improvements and environmental restoration. Our national security has long been based on technological superiority bred of scientific and engineering innovation and a strategic commitment to both breadth and excellence in basic research.