Nobel Prize winner in biochemistry and computational biology David Baker, 2024.
Nobel Prize-winning chemist Professor David Baker of the University of Washington is no longer able to fund his own laboratory. 15 of his colleagues and students are planning to leave the US. The reason is the radical reduction in science funding by the Donald Trump administration, NBC News reports.
From Nobel to pennilessness
Last year, David Baker, along with Demis Hassabis (DeepMind) and John Jumper, received the Nobel Prize for their breakthrough in deciphering the structure of proteins, the “building blocks of life”. Their developments paved the way for the creation of new drugs, in particular against cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
But today, Baker confesses:
“The Nobel was just a soap bubble. The situation became grim.”
His Institute for Protein Design cannot hire new researchers, and some employees are forced to work without pay. In recent months alone, 15 postdocs and PhD students have seriously considered emigrating.
Politics versus science
Donald Trump’s return to power is accompanied not only by a “restoration” of the old order, but also by a harsh attack on the scientific sphere.
At the behest of the newly created Government Performance and Results Department, headed by Elon Musk, multibillion-dollar contracts with research institutions have been cancelled. Funding was also hit by massive cuts in federal agencies.
“Because of the cuts, we can no longer register participants for federal research, we cannot launch new projects. In fact, we are frozen,” says Rachel Bender Ignacio, an infectious disease expert at UW Medicine.
Science in the dark
The situation has paralysed not only innovative areas, but also vital ones, such as research into Alzheimer’s disease, cancer and neurological disorders.
“We have moved on to plans B, B and C. But when it comes to delays of several months, it’s a disaster,” said Thomas Grabowski, director of the Alzheimer’s Research Centre.
Last year, the university received 1,220 grants from the National Institutes of Health worth more than $648 million. In 2025, most of them – more than 600 – were pending approval.
Researchers on the verge of escape
According to a survey by Nature magazine, 75% of US scientists are considering emigration. The main destinations are Canada, Germany, Sweden, and South Korea. The reasons are not only financial but also political.
“The government’s ‘purge’ of DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) initiatives is an attack on the values of modern science,” says retired attorney Andrea Gilbert, who received experimental therapy for Alzheimer’s at the UW.
“It seems like science is being chainsawed today.”
Today’s America is a country where even Nobel laureates cannot be sure of the future. Funding cuts, political interference, and a backslide in inclusiveness all threaten science in the same way that war threatens cities.
The world is watching to see if the US can once again become a flagship of innovation, or if this era ended with the Baker diploma.
Because if even Nobel Prize winners have no future, what can the rest of us expect?
