In 2021 I visited the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla for the first time. I watched in awe as several transparent jellyfish floated around in their tank. I pressed the button next to the tank. The light in the tank went off but I could still see the jellyfish — they glowed blue and green.
It turns out that the substance that made the jellyfish glow green was the same one I used in the lab to study cancer cells. And it was developed right next door at UC San Diego.
As a PhD student at UC San Diego, I use tools like glowing proteins from jellyfish to study cancer cells. Specifically, I study how cancer cells develop unique mechanisms to stay healthy and divide rapidly. Understanding cancer cells better could help us design improved treatments.
Unfortunately, the latest proposed budget cuts would slow down the future of this type of research. The current budget making its way through Congress proposes a $16 billion cut to the National Institutes of Health, slashing its previous budget by nearly 40%.
The NIH supports research in many ways, including by funding critical supplies and instruments needed for research, as well as salaries for scientists who conduct the research. For example, my project has been supported by NIH funding through the Predoctoral Research Training Grant, a program designed to fund PhD students. A constrained budget would mean fewer of these awards, a slowdown in research, and therefore, delayed development of treatments for disease.
Sadly, every person reading this has been impacted by cancer in some form, either directly or has a loved one who has. There is an urgent need to develop effective drugs and cancer diagnosis methods. But the reduced NIH budget would severely limit the development of effective treatment strategies and patient care.
Traditional cancer drugs are designed to kill cells that grow fast. Therefore, these drugs kill unhealthy cancer cells which can divide rapidly. However, these drugs also target healthy cells in our immune system, hair, and nails that are also fast-growing. So, while traditional cancer therapies have been incredibly useful in treating cancer patients, they also cause devastating side effects.
My research contributes to developing a new class of treatments called targeted therapies. These treatments specifically target mechanisms that cancer cells use but healthy cells don’t. This would lead to treatments that can effectively kill cancer cells while preserving healthy cells and minimizing harmful side effects.
Developing a new disease treatment, like targeted therapies for cancer, is like building a house. Each brick is a small part of the final cure, and hundreds of scientists and physicians carefully put each of those bricks in place. For example, my research is built on advances like genetic editing and glowing proteins.
Other scientists and I can use these tools to build on this foundation to understand how cancer cells work and how to detect them. Then, more scientists use this knowledge to create drugs that can block cancer cell growth. Scientists at organizations like the Food and Drug Administration check the safety of the drugs, and finally, doctors can prescribe drugs for patients in need.
Nearly every drug recently approved by the FDA has been supported by government-funded research. Fascinating scientific discoveries like glowing proteins have gone on to be used in many different types of research outside of cancer including in brain development, wound repair, and aging. Shrinking the NIH budget would inhibit groundbreaking research, slow the development of treatments, and be devastating for patients.
We must fight back against the attacks on science. Take action by contacting your congressional representatives or signing the Locals Supporting Science Pledge.
Anvita Komarla is a PhD candidate in UC San Diego’s bioengineering program who is working in the Towers Lab at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
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