Yesterday Gov. Sarah Palin gave a policy speech in Pittsburgh dedicated to the issue of special needs children. I’ve been curious to hear Gov. Palin speak on this issue, because it’s an issue near and dear to my heart, but I was sorely disappointed by some of Gov. Palin’s remarks, more specifically her mocking of federal earmark money being spent to study fruit flies:
This is a matter of how we prioritize the money that we spend. We’ve got a three trillion dollar budget, and Congress spends some 18 billion dollars a year on earmarks for political pet projects. That’s more than the shortfall to fully fund the IDEA. And where does a lot of that earmark money end up? It goes to projects having little or nothing to do with the public good — things like fruit fly research in Paris, France, or a public policy center named for the guy who got the earmark.
What bothers me the most about Gov. Palin’s remarks has to do with the fact that this seems to be her “issue of expertise,” yet she doesn’t seem to understand just how valuable research projects like those being done with fruit flies can be to better understanding and treating autism, Fragile X, and other related disorders. In fact, researchers at Emory University in North Carolina have cited their use of fruit flies to identify drugs and small molecules that reverse some features of Fragile X:
Scientists using a new drug screening method in Drosophila (fruit flies), have identified several drugs and small molecules that reverse the features of fragile X syndrome — a frequent form of mental retardation and one of the leading known causes of autism. The discovery sets the stage for developing new treatments for fragile X syndrome.
Perhaps before the next time Gov. Palin speaks, someone should brief her on the fact that not all research projects are “wasteful spending” or junk science, and that there are tremendous benefits to be found from even fruit fly research.
H/T to illyT.
The French fruit fly research she ridiculed concerns the Olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae, not Drosophila sp.
Nevertheless since the two species are close, the results of the French research may well lead to advances in understanding Drosophila and may bring similar medical advances.
To say nothing of the damage she has done to the public perception of fruit fly research in general.
northbritain, thanks for the clarification.