Bio-weapon Research Instead of Research into Sicknesses That Plague Mankind

An Open Letter to Elias Zerhouni – Over 700 top US scientists protest against US biodefence boom

The NIH (National Institutes of Health) peer-review process and NIH investments in research on microbial physiology, genetics, and pathogenesis have made possible remarkable advances in science and public health and have underpinned the development of recombinant DNA technology and the biotechnology industry.

However, the NIH peer-review process, and the research sector responsible for these achievements, are threatened by unintended consequences of the 2001 02 decision by the NIH National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to prioritize research of high biodefense, but low public-health significance (see Appendix 1) (1).

This prioritization, which was implemented by creation of funding setasides, special funding review panels, and special funding review procedures, has transformed NIH-supported research in microbial physiology, genetics, and pathogenesis.

The result has been a massive influx of funding, institutions, and investigators into work on prioritized bioweapons agents: i.e., the agents that cause tularemia, anthrax, plague, glanders, melioidosis, and brucellosis. The number of grants awarded by NIAID that reference these agents has increased by 1500% (from 33 in 1996 2000 to 497 in 2001 to January 2005; see Appendix 2) (1).

Over the same period, there has been a massive efflux of funding, institutions, and investigators from work on non biodefense-related microbial physiology, genetics, and pathogenesis. The number of grants awarded to study non biodefenserelated model microorganisms has decreased by 41% (from 490 in 1996 2000 to 289 in 2001 to January 2005; NIH Microbial Physiology and Genetics Initial Review Group; see Appendix 3) 1, and the number of grants to study non biodefense-related pathogenic microorganisms has decreased by 27% (from 627 in 1996 2000 to 457 in 2001 to January 2005; NIH Bacteriology and Mycology Initial Review Group; Appendix 3) (1).

The diversion of research funds from projects of high public-health importance to projects of high biodefense but low public-health importance represents a misdirection of NIH priorities and a crisis for NIH-supported microbiological research.

The diversion of research funds comes at a time when research on non biodefenserelated microbial physiology, genetics, and pathogenesis is poised for significant breakthroughs, made possible by the application of genomics, proteomics, and systems-biology methods (see Appendix 4) (1). These breakthroughs, and the accompanying dividends for public health and economic development, now either may not occur, or may occur only outside the United States, to the detriment of the U.S. national interest.

As researchers who have served on the NIH Microbial Physiology and Genetics and NIH Bacteriology and Mycology Initial Review Groups, or who have received grants reviewed by those Initial Review Groups, we urge you to take corrective action (see policy recommendations in Appendix 4) (1).

Affiliations for these signatories and the names and affiliations of over 700 additional signatories are available in the Supporting Online Material (1).

(1) Appendices and a complete list of signatories are available in the Supporting Online Material at www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/307/5714/1409c/DC1.

List of signatories

Luis A. Actis, Miami University

Alan Aderem, Institute for Systems Biology

Sankar Adhya, National Institutes of Health

Brian Ahmer, Ohio State University

Serap Aksoy, Yale University

Mary M. Allen, Wellesley College

Sidney Altman, Yale University

David C. Amberg, State University of New York Medical University, Syracuse

Angelika Amon, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, MIT

Moshe Arditi, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, University of California, Los Angeles

Sandra K. Armstrong, University of Minnesota

Karen Arndt, University of Pittsburgh

Michael A. Apicella, University of Iowa

Daniel J. Arp, Oregon State University

Irina Artsimovitch, Ohio State University

David Askew, University of Cincinnati

John Atkins, University of Utah

Abdu F. Azad, School of Medicine, University of Maryland

Paul Babitzke, Pennsylvania State University

Tania Baker, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, MIT

Joseph T. Barbieri, Medical College of Wisconsin

Alan Barbour, University of California, Irvine

Gerard J. Barcak, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Martin Bard, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

James Bardwell, University of Michigan

Peter Barnes, University of Texas Health Center, Tyler

Douglas H. Bartlett, University of California, San Diego

Joel B. Baseman, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio

Deepak Bastia, Medical University of South Carolina

Bonnie Bassler, Princeton University

David Bates, Harvard University

Carl Bauer, Indiana University, Bloomington

Andreas J. Baumler, Texas A&M University

Patrik M. Bavoil, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Blaine Beaman, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis

David H. Bechhofer, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York University

Jon Beckwith, Harvard Medical School

Robert Belas, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute

Marlene Belfort, Wadsworth Center

John T. Belisle, Colorado State University

Deborah Bell-Pedersen, Texas A&M University

Robert A. Bender, University of Michigan

Douglas E. Berg, Washington University Medical School, St. Louis

Howard C. Berg, Harvard University

James M. Berger, University of California, Berkeley

Debra Bessen, New York Medical College, Valhalla

Ashok Bhagwat, Wayne State University

William Bishai, Johns Hopkins University

Douglas Bishop, University of Chicago

Lindsay W. Black, University of Maryland, Baltimore

David Blair, University of Utah

Steven R. Blanke, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Martin J. Blaser, New York University School of Medicine

James Bliska, State University of New York, Stony Brook

Ariel J. Blocker, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology

Barry Bloom, Harvard School of Public Health

Barry Bochner, Biolog, Inc.

W. Henry Boom, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Peter T. Borgia, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine

Katherine A. Borkovich, University of California, Riverside

Sergei Borukhov, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Stratford

Robert B. Bourret, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Michael D. Boyle, Juniata College

Jean Brenchley, Pennsylvania State University

Patrick J. Brennan, Colorado State University

Charles Brenner, Dartmouth Medical School

David E. Briles, University of Alabama, Birmingham

Robert Brooker, University of Minnesota

Daniel R. Brown, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida

Yves Brun, Indiana University, Bloomington

Donald A. Bryant, Pennsylvania State University

Richard Bucala, Yale University School of Medicine

Richard R. Burgess, University of Wisconsin, Madison

J. Scott Butler, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry

Gerald I. Byrne, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center

Michael Calcutt, University of Missouri

Richard Calderone, Georgetown University

Richard Calendar, University of California, Berkeley

Andrew Camilli, Tufts University School of Medicine

Allan Campbell, Stanford University

Lee Ann Campbell, University of Washington

Gerard Cangelosi, Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, University of Washington

Nicholas Carbonetti, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Sherwood Casjens, University of Utah Medical School

Peter Castric Duquesne University

Jamie Cate, University of California, Berkeley

Ananda Chakrabarty, College of Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago

Henry F. Chambers, University of California San Francisco

Glenn H. Chambliss, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Edward D. Chan, National Jewish Medical and Research Center

Delphi Chatterjee, Colorado State University

Vishnu Chaturvedi, Ph.D., Director, Mycology Laboratory, Wadsworth Center

Tie Chen, Indiana University School of Medicine

Gail E. Christie, Virginia Commonwealth University

Ambrose Cheung, Dartmouth Medical School

Peter Christie, University of Texas-Houston Medical School

Gordon Churchward, Emory University

Jeffrey D. Cirillo, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

Josephine Clark-Curtiss, Arizona State University

Paul Patrick Cleary, University of Minnesota Medical School

Steven Clegg, University of Iowa

Don Clewell, University of Michigan

Bob Cluss, Middlebury College

Jenifer Coburn, Tufts University-New England Medical Center

Barry C. Cole, School of Medicine, University of Utah

Garry T. Cole, Medical College of Ohio

R. John Collier, Harvard Medical School

Laurie E. Comstock, Brigham and Women‘s Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Nancy Connell, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark

Terry D. Connell, State University of New York, Buffalo

Tyrrell Conway, University of Oklahoma

Terrance Cooper, University of Tennessee

Jeff Corden, Johns Hopkins University

Cynthia Nau Cornelissen, Virginia Commonwealth University

Peggy A. Cotter, University of California, Santa Barbara

Timothy L. Cover, Vanderbilt University

Michael M. Cox, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Nicholas Cozzarelli, University of California, Berkeley

Elizabeth Craig, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Nancy Craig, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Johns Hopkins University

John Cronan, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Elliott Crooke, Georgetown University

James Curran, Wake Forest University

Roy Curtiss, Arizona State University

Jim Cutler, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans

Martha Cyert, Stanford University

Frederick W. Dahlquist, University of California, Santa Barbara

Ross Dalbey, Ohio State University

Fevzi Daldal, University of Pennsylvania

James Dale, University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Andrew Dancis, University of Pennsylvania

Lacy Daniels, University of Iowa

Seth Darst, The Rockefeller University

Anath Das, University of Minnesota

Asis Das, University of Connecticut Health Center

Shiladitya DasSarma, Center of Marine Biotechnology, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute

Robert S. Daum, University of Chicago Children‘s Hospital, University of Chicago

Amy Davidson, Baylor College of Medicine

Christopher Davies, Medical University of South Carolina

Deborah Dean, Children‘s Hospital Oakland Research Institute

Piet de Boer, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Amy Decatur, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

George S. Deepe, Jr. University of Cincinnati

Pieter L. deHaseth, Case Western Reserve University

Luis M. de la Maza, University of California, Irvine

Anne Delcour, University of Houston

Maurizio Del Poeta, Medical University of South Carolina

Arnold L. Demain, Drew University

Keith M. Derbyshire, Wadsworth Center

Vojo Deretic, University of New Mexico Medical School

Bob Deschenes, Medical College of Wisconsin

Subramanian Dhandayuthapani, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio

Joseph P. Dillard, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Victor J. DiRita, University of Michigan

Robert C. Dickson, University of Kentucky College of Medicine

Jack E. Dixon, University of California. San Diego

Tamara Doering, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis

Tom Donahue, Indiana University, Bloomington

Michael Donnenberg, University of Maryland

Timothy Donohue, University of Wisconsin, Madison

William Dowhan, University of Texas-Houston Medical School

Diana M. Downs, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Anne M. Dranginis, St. John‘s University

Adam Driks, Loyola University Medical Center

Karl Drlica, Public Health Research Institute

David Dubnau, Public Health Research Institute

Jay C. Dunlap, Dartmouth Medical School

Gary Dunny, University of Minnesota Medical School

David W. Dyer, Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center

Richard H. Ebright, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Rutgers University

Susan M. Egan, University of Kansas

Zehava Eichenbaum, Georgia State University

Jonathan A. Eisen, The Institute for Genomic Research

Francis O. Eko, Morehouse School of Medicine

Elaine Elion, Harvard Medical School

Christopher Elkins, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Stephen Elledge, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School

Thomas Elliott, West Virginia University

Bert Ely, University of South Carolina

Joanne Engel, University of California, San Francisco

Jodi Enos-Berlage, Luther College

Lynn W. Enquist, Princeton University

Jerald C. Ensign, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Scott Ensign, Utah State University

Joel Ernst, New York University

Beverly Errede, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Jorge Escalante-Semerena, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Rochelle Easton Esposito, University of Chicago

Stanley Falkow, Stanford University

Ray Fall, University of Colorado

Ferric C. Fang, University of Washington

Stephen K. Farrand, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Joseph J. Ferretti, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Alessio Fasano, School of Medicine, University of Maryland

Jan Fassler, University of Iowa

Michael Feiss, University of Iowa

Michael Ferguson, Coastal Carolina University

J. Greg Ferry, Pennsylvania State University

Paul D. Fey, University of Nebraska Medical Center

Paul Fidel, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans

Joshua Fierer, San Diego School of Medicine

Scott G. Filler, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles

Marcin Filutowicz, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Daniel Finley, Harvard Medical School

Vincent A. Fischetti, The Rockefeller University

Susan Fisher, Boston University School of Medicine

Molly Fitzgerald-Hayes, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Ann Flower, University of North Dakota

Katrina Forest, University of Wisconsin, Madison

John W. Foster, University of South Alabama

Patricia Foster, Indiana University

Catherine Fox, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Dan Fraenkel, Harvard Medical School

August A. Franco, Johns Hopkins University

Dara W. Frank, Medical College of Wisconsin

Nancy Freitag, Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, University of Washington

Kerin Fresa-Dillon, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

Irwin Fridovich, Duke University Medical Center

David I. Friedman, University of Michigan

Barbara Funnell, University of Toronto

Bruce Futcher, State University of New York, Stony Brook

Abram Gabriel, Rutgers University

Jorge Galan, Yale University

Jon Gallant, University of Washington

Richard L. Gallo, University of California, San Diego

Roman R. Ganta, Kansas State University

Tomas Ganz, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles

Jeffrey Gardner, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

E. Peter Geiduschek, University of California, San Diego

Angela Gelli, University of California, Davis

Caroline Attardo Genco, Boston University School of Medicine

Marila Gennaro, Public Health Research Institute

George Georgiou, University of Texas, Austin

Costa Georgopoulos, University of Geneva

Kenn Gerdes, University of Southern Denmark

Raymond F. Gesteland, University of Utah

Bradford W. Gibson, Buck Institute for Age Research

David T. Gibson, University of Iowa

Michael Gilmore, Harvard Medical School

Jorge A. Giron, University of Arizona

James W. Gober, University of California, Los Angeles

Lawrence M. Gold, Somalogic, Inc.

Marcia B. Goldberg, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School

James W. Golden, Texas A&M University

Susan S. Golden, Texas A&M University

Howard Goldfine, University of Pennsylvania

Emanuel Goldman, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark

Alan H. Goldstein, Alfred University

Paul Gollnick, State University of New York, Buffalo

Myron F. Goodman, University of Southern California

Steven D. Goodman, University of Southern California

Brad Goodner, Hiram College

Jonatha M. Gott, Case Western Reserve University

Max Gottesman, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University

Kathleen Gould, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical School

Richard Gourse, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Dan M. Granoff, Children‘s Hospital Oakland Research Institute

Neil Greenspan, Case Western Reserve University

Nigel Grindley, Yale University

Eduardo A. Groisman, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Washington University, St. Louis

Carol A. Gross, University of California, San Francisco

Alan Grossman, MIT

Donald G. Guiney, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego

Paul A. Gulig, University of Florida College of Medicine

John Gunn, The Ohio State University

Robert Gunsalus, University of California, Los Angeles

Peixuan Guo, Purdue University

Gary Gussin, University of Iowa

John E. Gustafson, New Mexico State University

David Guttman, University of Toronto

David Haake, University of California, Los Angeles

James E. Haber, Brandeis University

Kasturi Haldar, Northwestern University

William Haldenwang, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio

Michael Hampsey, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

Jiahuai Han, The Scripps Research Institute

Rasika Harshey, University of Texas, Austin

Caroline Harwood, University of Washington

David L. Hasty, University of Tennessee

G. Wesley Hatfield, University of California, Irvine

Graham Hatfull, University of Pittsburgh

Robert Haselkorn, University of Chicago

Gerald Hazelbauer, University of Missouri, Columbia

Sheng Yang He, Michigan State University

David Hecht, Loyola University Medical Center

Joseph Heitman, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Duke University Medical Center

John Helmann, Cornell University

Roger Hendrix, University of Pittsburgh

Tina Henkin, Ohio State University

Paul K. Herman, Ohio State University

V. James Hernandez, State University of New York, Buffalo

Wolf-Dietrich Heyer, University of California, Davis

Pat Higgins, University of Alabama, Birmingham

Thomas M. Hill, University of North Dakota

Jeanne Hirsch, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

James A. Hoch, The Scripps Research Institute

Ann Hochschild, Harvard Medical School

Mark Hochstrasser, Yale University

Charles Hoffman, Boston College

Elizabeth L. Hohmann, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University

Nancy Hollingsworth, State University of New York, Stony Brook

Timothy Hoover, University of Georgia

Margaret K. Hostetter, Yale-New Haven Children‘s Hospital, Yale University School of Medicine

Ya-Ming Hou, Thomas Jefferson University

Martha Howe, University of Tennessee

Lois Hoyer, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

James Hu, Texas A&M University

Sheng-He Huang, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California

Alan P. Hudson, Wayne State University School of Medicine

Gary B. Huffnagle, University of Michigan

Kelly Hughes, University of Washington Medical School

F. Marion Hulett, University of Illinois, Chicago

M. Zafri Humayun, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark

James Hurst, Washington State University

Jerard Hurwitz, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Wayne Hynes, Old Dominion University

John J. Iandolo, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Jim Imlay, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Robin Ingalls, Boston University School of Medicine

Lonnie O. Ingram, University of Florida

Masayori Inouye, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

Ralph Isberg, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Tufts University

William R. Jacobs, Jr., Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Christine Jacobs-Wagner, Yale University

George Jacoby, Lahey Clinic, Harvard Medical School

Ursula Jakob, University of Michigan

Gary Janssen, Miami University

R. K. Jayaswal, Illinois State University

Yu Jiang, University of Pittsburgh

Sue Jinks-Robertson, Emory University

Carl Hirschie Johnson, Vanderbilt University

Reid C. Johnson, University of California, Los Angeles

Stephen Albert Johnston, University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center

Robert B. Jones, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis

H. Ronald Kaback, University of California, Los Angeles

Robert Kadner, University of Virginia

Jon M. Kaguni, Michigan State University

Michael Kahn, Washington State University

Bernhard Kaltenboeck, Auburn University

James B. Kaper, School of Medicine, University of Maryland

Heidi B. Kaplan, University of Texas-Houston Medical School

Samuel Kaplan, University of Texas-Houston Medical School

Anna Glasgow Karls, University of Georgia

Tom Kawula, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Barbara Kazmierczak, Yale University

Scott Keeney, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

David Kehoe, Indiana University, Bloomington

Ralph L. Keil, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine

Ciaran P. Kelly, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School

Kathleen A. Kelly, University of California, Los Angeles

Linda J. Kenney, University of Illinois, Chicago

Saleem A. Khan, University of Pittsburgh

Patricia Kiley, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Kwang Sik Kim, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University

Glenn King, University of Connecticut Health Center

John Kirby, Georgia Institute of Technology

Ann Kirchmaier, Purdue University

Richard L. Kitchens, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Nancy Kleckner, Harvard University

Bruce Klein, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Hannah Klein, School of Medicine, New York University

Karl E. Klose, University of Texas, San Antonio

Kendall L. Knight, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Theresa M. Koehler, University of Texas-Houston Medical School

P. E. Kolattukudy, University of Central Florida

Richard D. Kolodner, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego

Roberto Kolter, Harvard Medical School

Jordan Konisky, Rice University

Mike Konkel, Washington State University

James Konopka, State University of New York, Stony Brook

Arthur Kornberg, Stanford University

Malak Kotb, University of Tennessee

Igor Kramnik, Harvard School of Public Health

Robert Kranz, Washington University

Duncan C. Krause, University of Georgia

Kenneth Kreuzer, Duke University Medical Center

Lee Kroos, Michigan State University

Terry Ann Krulwich, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Meta Kuehn, Duke University

Cho-chou Kuo, University of Washington

Carol A. Kumamoto, Tufts University

Sidney R. Kushner, University of Georgia

Sydney Kustu, University of California, Berkeley

Yousef Abu Kwaik, University of Louisville College of Medicine

Eric Lafontaine, Medical College of Ohio

Robert Landick, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Arthur Landy, Brown University

Gee W. Lau, University of Cincinnati Medical Center

Jeffrey Lawrence, University of Pittsburgh

Beth Lazazzera, University of California, Los Angeles

Chia Y. Lee, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Jean Lee, Brigham and Womens‘ Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Jennifer Leeds, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research

Robert I. Lehrer, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles

John Leigh, University of Washington

Sandra K. Lemmon, University of Miami

Laurel L. Lenz, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center

Alan Leonard, Florida Institute of Technology

John Leong, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Sally Leong, USDA/ARS, University of Wisconsin, Madison

David E. Levin, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University

Petra Anne Levin, Washington University, St. Louis

Stuart M. Levitz, Boston University School of Medicine

Stuart Levy, Tufts University

Mary E. Lidstrom, University of Washington

Margaret Lieb, University of Southern California

Lasse Lindahl, University of Maryland Baltimore County

John Little, University of Arizona

Richard M. Locksley, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, San Francisco

Sharon Long, Stanford University

Mark Longtine, Oklahoma State University

Stephen Lory, Harvard Medical School

Richard Losick, Harvard University

Michael Lovett, University of California, Los Angeles

Paul Lovett, University of Maryland

Susan T. Lovett, Brandeis University

David A. Low, University of California, Santa Barbara

Paul Ludden, University of California, Berkeley

Slawomir Lukomski, West Virginia University School of Medicine

Lars G. Ljungdahl, University of Georgia

Joe Lutkenhaus, Kansas University Medical Center

Janine Maddock, University of Michigan

Boris Magasanik, MIT

D. Mitchell Magee, University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center

Paul T. Magee, University of Minnesota

Roy David Magnuson, University of Alabama in Huntsville

Michael E. Maguire, Case Western Reserve University

Robert Maier, University of Georgia

Michael H. Malamy, Tufts University

Horst Malke, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Peter C. Maloney, Johns Hopkins University Medical School

Stanley Maloy, San Diego State University

Linda S. Mansfield, Michigan State University

Alexander Mankin, University of Illinois, Chicago

Michael D. Manson, Texas A&M University

Richard T. Marconi, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University

William Margolin, University of Texas-Houston Medical School

Martin G. Marinus, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Helene Marquis, Cornell University

Kieren A. Marr, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Warren E. Masker, School of Medicine, Temple University

Christopher K. Mathews, Oregon State University

Steven W. Matson, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Philip Matsumura, University of Illinois, Chicago

Julie A. Maupin-Furlow, University of Florida

Russell Maurer, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Gregory S. May, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

William McAllister, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Stratford

Linda McCarter, University of Iowa

William R. McCleary, Brigham Young University

David J. McGee, University of South Alabama

Sarah A. McIntire, Texas Woman‘s University

Kevin McIver, University of Texas-Southwestern Medical School

Joseph R. McCormick, Duquesne University

Kathleen A. McDonough, Wadsworth Center

Peter J. McNamara, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Joan Mecsas, Tufts University

Borna Mehrad, University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center

John Mekalanos, Harvard Medical School

Barbara Menzies, University of Washington

William W. Metcalf, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Richard Meyer, University of Texas, Austin

Charles Miller, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Jeff F. Miller, University of California, Los Angeles

Jeffrey H. Miller, University of California, Los Angeles

Leonard Mindich, Public Health Research Institute

Sergei M. Mirkin, College of Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago

Rajeev Misra, Arizona State University

Tom Mitchell, Duke University

Harry Mobley, University of Michigan Medical School

Paul Modrich, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Duke University

Ian J. Molineux, University of Texas, Austin

Charles P. Moran Jr., Emory University School of Medicine

Scott W. Morrical, University of Vermont College of Medicine

Richard P. Morrison, University of Alabama, Birmingham

Sherie Morrison, University of California, Los Angeles

Randy Morse, Wadsworth Center

David W. Mount, University of Arizona

Scott Moye-Rowley, University of Iowa

Hong Hua Mu, School of Medicine, University of Utah

Matthew Mulvey, University of Utah

Robert S. Munford, University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center

George P. Munson, University of Miami

Robert Munson, Ohio State University

Emanuel J. Murgola, University of Texas-M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Juneann W. Murphy, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Timothy F. Murphy, State University of New York, Buffalo

Barbara E. Murray, University of Texas-Houston Medical School

Peter Murray, St. Jude Children‘s Research Hospital

James M. Musser, Baylor College of Medicine

William M. Nauseef, College of Medicine, University of Iowa

Hiroshi Nakai, Georgetown University Medical Center

Melody N. Neely, Wayne State University School of Medicine

Frederick C. Neidhardt, University of Michigan

Ellen L. Neidle, University of Georgia

Lenore Neigeborn, Rutgers University

Prasadarao V. Nemani, Children‘s Hospital Los Angeles, University of Southern California

Eugene Nester, University of Washington

Simon L. Newman, University of Cincinnati

Carol S. Newlon, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark

Austin Newton, Princeton University

Alex Neyfakh, University of Illinois, Chicago

Robert A. Nicholas, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Wayne Nicholson, University of Florida

Michael Niederweis, University of Alabama, Birmingham

Anthony J. Nieuwkoop, Grand Valley State University

Hiroshi Nikaido, University of California, Berkeley

Victor Nizet, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego

Dale Noel, Marquette University

Masayasu Nomura, University of California, Irvine

Michael V. Norgard, University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center

Richard P. Novick, New York University Medical Center

Bogdan Nowicki, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston

Evgeny Nudler, School of Medicine, New York University

Mark O‘Brian, State University of New York, Buffalo

Howard Ochman, University of Arizona

Michael O‘Donnell, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University

Donald Oliver, Wesleyan University

Joan Olson, West Virginia University Health Sciences Center

George W. Ordal, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Peter Orlean, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Ian M. Orme, Colorado State University

Nick Ornston, Yale University

Mary Ann Osley, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center

Robert Osuna, State University of New York, Albany

George O‘Toole, Dartmouth Medical School

Karen Ottemann, University of California, Santa Cruz

Norman R. Pace, University of Colorado, Boulder

Timothy Palzkill, Baylor College of Medicine

Guy Palmer, Washington State University

Lawrence C. Paoletti, Harvard Medical School

Hay-Oak Park, Ohio State University

James T. Park, Tufts University

John S. Parkinson, University of Utah

Jodi R. Parrish, Wayne State University

Julie Parsonnet, Stanford University

Martin S. Pavelka, Jr., University of Rochester Medical Center

Gregory S. Payne, University of California, Los Angeles

David S. Peabody, University of New Mexico School of Medicine

David Pellman, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School

Marta Perego, The Scripps Research Institute

Everett C. Pesci, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University

Thomas D. Petes, Duke University

Allen T. Phillips, Pennsylvania State University

Gregory Phillips, Iowa State University

Gerald B. Pier, Brigham and Women‘s Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Patrick Piggot, Temple University Medical School

Lorraine Pillus, University of California, San Diego

Thomas Pistole, University of New Hampshire

Kit Pogliano, University of California, San Diego

David Popham, Virginia Tech

Kathleen Postle, Washington State University

Louise Prakash, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston

Chester W. Price, University of California, Davis

Richard A. Proctor, University of Wisconsin

Mark Ptashne, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Alison J. Quayle, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans

Justin Radolf, University of Connecticut Health Center

Sanjay Ram, Boston Medical Center

Lalita Ramakrishnan, University of Washington

Anura Rambukkana, The Rockefeller University

Linda Randall, University of Missouri, Columbia

Roger G. Rank, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Rajini Rao, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Jane E. Raulston, James H. Quillen College of Medicine

Steven I. Reed, The Scripps Research Institute

Larry Reitzer, University of Texas, Dallas

David Relman, Stanford University

Heinz Remold, Brigham and Women‘s Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Christopher Rensing, University of Arizona

Richard F. Rest, Drexel University College of Medicine

William Reznikoff, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Judith Rhodes, University of Cincinnati

Louis B. Rice, Case Western Reserve University

John P. Richardson, Indiana University, Bloomington

Paul D. Rick, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Yasuko Rikihisa, Ohio State University

Gary Roberts, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Jeffrey W. Roberts, Cornell University

Jayne B. Robinson, University of Dayton

Frank G. Rodgers, University of New Hampshire

Tony Romeo, Emory University School of Medicine

Saul Roseman, Johns Hopkins University

Barry P. Rosen, Wayne State University

Susan M. Rosenberg, Baylor College of Medicine

John Roth, University of California, Davis

Lawrence Rothfield, University of Connecticut

Lucia Rothman-Denes, University of Chicago

Eric Rubin, Harvard University School of Public Health

Harvey Rubin, University of Pennsylvania

Edward Ruby, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Kenneth E. Rudd, University of Miami

W. Dean Rupp, Yale University

Matthew Sachs, Oregon Health and Science University

Joseph W. Saint Geme III, Washington University School of Medicine

Abigail Salyers, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Nita H. Salzman, Medical College of Wisconsin

D. Scott Samuels, University of Montana

Nilima Sarkar, Boston Biomedical Research Institute

Christopher Sassetti, University of Massachusetts, Worcester

Karla Fullner Satchell, Northwestern University

Robert T. Sauer, MIT

Moselio Schaechter, Tufts University, University of California, San Diego

David Schauer, MIT

Joel Schildbach, Johns Hopkins University

Robert Schleif, Johns Hopkins University

Herbert P. Schweizer, Colorado State University

Marci Scidmore, Cornell University

June R. Scott, Emory University School of Medicine

Cynthia L. Sears, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Anca Segall, San Diego State University

Hank Seifert, Northwestern University

Timothy J. Sellati, Albany Medical College

Peter Setlow, University of Connecticut Health Center

William M. Shafer, Emory University School of Medicine

Richard F. Shand, Northern Arizona University

Nathan Shankar, Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center

James Shapiro, University of Chicago

Lucy Shapiro, Stanford University

Li Shen, Boston University School of Medicine

David Sherman, University of Washington

Alex Shnyra, University of Missouri, Kansas City

Wenyuan Shi, Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, University of California, Los Angeles

Howard A. Shuman, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University

Deborah Siegele, Texas A&M University

Thomas Silhavy, Princeton University

Simon Silver, College of Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago

David J. Silverman, University of Maryland School of Medicine

Melvin Simon, Caltech

Mitchell Singer, University of California, Davis

James M. Slauch, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Clifford L. Slayman, Yale University School of Medicine

Gary L. Sloan, University of Alabama

Pamela Small, University of Tennessee

Mark S. Smeltzer, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

C. Jeffrey Smith, East Carolina University

Gerald R. Smith, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Issar Smith, Public Health Research Institute

Scott B. Snapper, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Magdalene So, Oregon Health Sciences University

David R. Soll, University of Iowa

Dieter Söll, Yale University

Jay V. Solnick, University of California, Davis

Abraham L. Sonenshein, Tufts University

Evgeni Sokurenko, University of Washington

Rui Sousa, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio

Frederick Sparling, University of North Carolina

Michael P. Spector, University of South Alabama

Stanley M. Spinola, Indiana University, Indianapolis

Catherine Squires, Tufts University

Franklin W. Stahl, University of Oregon

Michael Starnbach, Harvard Medical School

George V. Stauffer, University of Iowa

C. Erec Stebbins, The Rockefeller University

Deborah A. Steege, Duke University Medical Center

Rolf Sternglanz, State University of New York, Stony Brook

Brian Stevenson, University of Kentucky

Valley Stewart, University of California, Davis

Adrie J.C. Steyn, University of Alabama, Birmingham

Barbara Stitt, Temple University

Ann Stock, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

Jeffry Stock, Princeton University

Mark A. Strauch, University of Maryland, Baltimore

Terrence L. Stull, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Anne O. Summers, University of Georgia

James T. Summersgill, University of Louisville

Paul M. Sullam, University of California, San Francisco

Patrick Sung, Yale University

Joel Swanson, University of Michigan Medical School

Michele Swanson, University of Michigan Medical School

W. Edward Swords, Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Lorraine Symington, Columbia University

Michael Syvanen, University of California, Davis

Alexander J. Szalai, University of Alabama, Birmingham

Paul J. Szaniszlo, University of Texas, Austin

F. Robert Tabita, Ohio State University

Phang C. Tai, Georgia State University

Glen S. Tamura, University of Washington

Ming Tan, University of California, Irvine

Richard Tapping, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Barry L. Taylor, Loma Linda University

Ronald Taylor, Dartmouth Medical School

Louise Temple, James Madison University

David Toczyski, University of California, San Francisco

Lucy S. Tompkins, Stanford University

Zahra Toossi, Case Western Reserve University

Nancy Trun, Duquesne University

Yuk-Ching Tse-Dinh, New York Medical College

Charles L. Turnbough, Jr., University of Alabama, Birmingham

Bik K. Tye, Cornell University

Vinzenz Unger, Yale University

Manuel F. Varela, Eastern New Mexico University

Patricia S. Vary, Northern Illinois University

Michael Vasil, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center

Andrew Vershon, Rutgers University

Eric R. Vimr, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Karen Visick, Loyola University Chicago

Michael Volkert, University of Massachusetts Medical School

Matthew Waldor, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Tufts University School of Medicine

Graham Walker, MIT

Judy D. Wall, University of Missouri-Columbia

Robert Wallis, PPD, Inc.

Barry L. Wanner, Purdue University

Karen Wassarman, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Paula I. Watnick, Tufts University-New England Medical Center

Keith E. Weaver, University of South Dakota

Robert E. Webster, Duke University Medical Center

Steven Weinstein, San Francisco State University

Jeffrey N. Weiser, University of Pennsylvania

Janis J. Weis, University of Utah

David Weiss, University of Iowa

Jerrold Weiss, University of Iowa

Rodney Welch, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Michael Wessels, Children‘s Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School

Ann West, University of Oklahoma

Susan West, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Christine White-Ziegler, Smith College

Judith Whittum-Hudson, Wayne State University

William T. Wickner, Dartmouth Medical School

Brian J. Wilkinson, Illinois State University

Joanne Willey, Hofstra University

Kelly Williams, Indiana University, Bloomington

Brenda Anne Wilson, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

James Wilson, Tulane University

Stephen C. Winans, Cornell University

Malcolm E. Winkler, Indiana University, Bloomington

Edward Winter, Thomas Jefferson University

Fred Winston, Harvard Medical School

Elizabeth Winzeler, The Scripps Research Institute

Jo Ann Wise, Case Western Reserve University

Kim Wise, University of Missouri-Columbia

Curt Wittenberg, The Scripps Research Institute

Peter M. Wolanin, Princeton University

Richard E. Wolf, Jr., University of Maryland Baltimore County

Alan Wolfe, Loyola University

David O. Wood, University of South Alabama

Jon Woods, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Daniel J. Wozniak, Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Andrew Wright, Tufts University

Priscilla B. Wyrick, Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University

Timothy L. Yahr, College of Medicine, University of Iowa

Yoshio Yamaoka, Baylor College of Medicine

Zhaomin Yang, Virginia Tech

Charles Yanofsky, Stanford University

Anthony T. Yeung, Fox Chase Cancer Center

Janet Yother, University of Alabama, Birmingham

Elton T. Young, University of Washington

Kevin D. Young, School of Medicine, University of North Dakota

Ryland F. Young III, Texas A&M University

Xuejie Yu, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston

Virginia A. Zakian, Princeton University

Helen I. Zgurskaya, University of Oklahoma

Qijing Zhang, Iowa State University

X.F. Steven Zheng, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

Daoguo Zhou, Purdue University

Norton Zinder, The Rockefeller University

Peter Zuber, Oregon Health and Science University

David Zusman, University of California, Berkeley

Additional signatures can be added at: http://waksman.rutgers.edu/NIH-MBC_BM/current/.

On February 28, 2005, when this letter was released, there were 758 signers, including the president-elect and seven past presidents of the American Society for Microbiology.