The Worth Of Basic Research Honored With The 2025 Golden Goose Awards

The Golden Goose awards acknowledge scientific analysis that originally might seem trivial, however in the end leads to vital sensible breakthroughs.

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The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Association of American Universities (AAU) have announced the 2025 Golden Goose Awards, a recognition that spotlights obscure, typically foolish sounding fundamental analysis discoveries that in the end end in vital social advantages.

This 12 months’s awards, revealed final week by AAAS, honor laboratory investigations that led to the event of cisplatin, a extremely efficient drug for the remedy of testicular most cancers; and discoveries in fundamental cell biology that helped advance the sector of illness diagnostics.

The Golden Goose Award, an annual celebration of the worth of fundamental analysis, acknowledges federally funded analysis that originally seems trivial however in the end results in a significant sensible advance.

The title of the award stems from the “Golden Fleece Awards,” a tongue-in-cheek designation coined by the late senator William Proxmire within the Seventies to belittle federal spending that he thought of wasteful. Proxmire singled out analysis that appeared unimportant on its face and was subsequently simply mis-characterized as a waste of taxpayer funds.

However, Proxmire’s ridicule was in the end transformed into an honor when Representative Jim Cooper of Tennessee launched the concept of the Golden Goose Award about twenty years in the past. Championing an award that might acknowledge the advantages of federally funded analysis by highlighting examples of apparently inconsequential research that yielded main breakthroughs, Cooper introduced the creation of the Golden Goose Award in Spring 2012.

Since then, researchers have been acknowledged yearly for fundamental science investigations which have led to life-saving medicines and coverings; main social and behavioral insights; and technological advances involving nationwide safety, power, the atmosphere, communications, and public well being.

“The Golden Goose awardees definitively demonstrate that federally funded American science continues to deliver for all of us. These discoveries show that American science is anything but stagnant. AAAS and the American people will continue to support federal investment in research that can make us healthier, safer, and stronger,” mentioned Sudip S. Parikh, AAAS chief govt officer and govt writer of the Science household of journals, in a information launch.

This 12 months’s awards acknowledge two discoveries, each of which have been supported partially by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation

Study of Bacteria Leads to A Drug for Testicular Cancer — Barnett Rosenberg, Loretta VanCamp, and Thomas Krigas

In the Nineteen Sixties, Barnett Rosenberg, professor of biophysics at Michigan State University, together with lab technician Loretta VanCamp and a crew of graduate college students together with Thomas Krigas, examined how electrical fields have an effect on cell division in E. coli micro organism. Rosenberg (who handed away in 2009) and his crew found that the division resulted within the micro organism elongating into lengthy, spaghetti-like shapes. After some follow-up experiments, they discovered that platinum compounds launched from the electrodes have been answerable for that consequence.

This discovering led to the event of cisplatin, a platinum-based chemotherapy drug permitted in 1978. At the time, the concept of utilizing a metal-containing compound was considered skeptically by clinicians due to considerations about its toxicity for people. However, after it was found that the dangerous unwanted side effects may very well be mitigated, cisplatin was permitted and delivered excellent medical outcomes — growing the survival price for testicular most cancers from round 10% to over 90%.

Studying Basic Organisms Paves Way to Better Disease Diagnostics — Joseph G. Gall

Joseph G. Gall, broadly often known as “the father of modern cell biology,” carried out analysis on an array of life varieties throughout a profession that noticed him maintain appointments on the University of Minnesota, Yale University and Carnegie Science. His research of frog egg cells (oocytes) led to a way known as “in situ hybridization,” which has since turn out to be broadly utilized in scientific analysis and illness diagnostics. In different experiments, Gall, who died final 12 months, advised that Tetrahymena, a single-celled “pond scum” organism, might function a mannequin for landmark discoveries involving stretches of DNA known as telomeres, which have since superior the understanding of growing old.

According to the AAAS quotation about Gall’s work, “beyond the knack for nature’s oddities that helped guide his and his colleagues’ scientific research, Gall was renowned as a mentor, particularly for women scientists at a time when it wasn’t the norm, and several highly accomplished, prize-winning scientists have come through his lab.”

This 12 months’s awards come at a very fraught time, with analysis of every kind below a number of assaults from the Trump administration as a number of authorized battles regarding billions of {dollars} in NIH and NSF funding play out within the courts. The stakes for American science and college scientists couldn’t be increased. Historically, the awards have loved bi-partisan assist in Congress, however whether or not that type of broad approval shall be maintained within the present politically polarized atmosphere is an open query.

One encouraging signal was offered by Jay Obernolte (R-CA), Chairman of the House Research and Technology Subcommittee, who mentioned he was “proud to assist spotlight how American innovation drives each our financial system and our nationwide safety,” including “this year’s Golden Goose awardees show that fundamental research not only expands knowledge but also creates jobs, strengthens our competitiveness against rivals like China, and improves the everyday lives of Americans. For generations, the United States has led the world in discovery and innovation. By continuing to invest wisely in research, we can ensure that America remains the global leader in science and technology.”

On September 16, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Association of American Universities will co-host the 14th annual Golden Goose Award Ceremony on the Library of Congress.