542 HISTORY OF THE COMMITTI I ON SCIENCE AND IK HNOLOGY 



think their taxpayers would approve spending money on that? The answer is yes, it 

 they are told the full truth about this study. 



The study was done by Dr. James Neel of the University of Michigan Medical 

 School, and he won the National Medal of Science for his work. That research in- 

 creased our understanding of sickle cell anemia, a disease that follows genetic patterns 

 of inheritance. 



Representative John H. Rousselot (Republican of California) 

 asked what '"fruitful results" had come from a study of what makes 

 "gay seagulls." McCormack answered: 



Basic research is established as a search for truth, and many pieces of truth from 

 main different sources may, over a long period of rime, interlock together tor the bene- 

 fit of society. * * * This particular study that he is questioning really has to do with 

 the relationship between hormones in animal bodies and animal behavior. * * ' We 

 have known for many years, for instance, that secretions — or the lack of them — in the 

 body influence diabetes, our ability to metabolize sugar, that they influence gout, our 

 ability to metabolize amino acids. We have learned that they influence schizophrenia 

 and epilepsy. 



Mr. Rousselot. Have wc learned this from the gay gulls? 



Mr. McCormack. We have learned this from basic research. 



Mr. Rousselot. What basic research? 



Mr. McCormack. Basic research similar to the research that is being carried out 

 today in thousands of different experiments, such as the one the gentleman has puked 

 to make fun of — 



Mr. Ashbrook. The gentleman talked about schizophrenia. Maybe he is talking 

 about balanced budgets and voting against amendments like this. 



Mr. Teague. I confess I do not know anything about the sex life of seagulls, but 

 I do know a little about cattle. A few years ago on this floor it was proposed that we 

 studv the sex life of the fly, and everybody laughed and everybody thought it was 

 ridiculous. But anybody in this House who knows anything about cattle knows that 

 we got rid of the screw worm by studying the sex life of the fly. So it is not good to 

 ridicule every kind of proposal rhar comes up here. 



THE RATIONALE FOR BASIC RESEARCH 



It remained for an alumnus of the committee, Representative James 

 G. Martin (Republican of North Carolina), a chemistry Ph. D., to help 

 define the rationale for Federal funding of NSF basic research whose 

 results could not be predicted : 



Most scientific breakthroughs come not from practical applied studies hut from 

 fundamental research, where wc do not know in advance whether or not we are going 

 to find anything. * * * It is in the field where we cannot tell whether there will be any 

 monetary rewards where the publu support is much more important; where it is much 

 more important for public policy to provide a climate tor that kind of research. That 

 is where we must seek to enable our best minds to study, not what we as politicians 

 think that they ought to he studying, but what they from their scientific training arc 

 he curious about, what they want to question, what they want to probe in :i 

 scientific wa) 



