Scientific study of flies could save lives but government funding cuts pose threat

Science doesn’t happen quickly and it’s not cheap. Take Capoten, for example, a widely used drug for treating high blood pressure and congestive heart failure. It is modeled after the venom of the Brazilian pit viper; some say it was first isolated by Indigenous tribes for arrow tips. It was first studied by scientists in the 1940s, extracted in the 1960s and on the market by 1981.

Or consider Ozempic and the other GLP-1 drugs that diabetes patients depend on. The drugs have also revolutionized obesity treatment. Gila lizards inspired the synthetic active molecule in Ozempic, but it took more than 30 years to harness the lizards’ basic biology for medicine. In the 1990s, John Eng and Jean-Pierre Raufman noticed that Gila lizards eat infrequently — maybe a handful of times a year — due to a molecule in their saliva that stabilizes their blood sugar. When injected into humans, this molecule persists for hours compared with our natural gut hormone regulator GLP-1, which is cleared in minutes. In May 2024, the Kaiser Family Foundation health tracking poll found that 43% of diabetes patients reported receiving this treatment, all thanks to lizards and scientists.

These surprising applications of basic biology to medicine are common in scientific research. Research can be fundamental, aiming to understand the why, or translational, meaning the fundamental research is applied to solving practical problems. Without research on the pit viper and the Gila lizard, we would not have cures for diseases today. And somehow, despite its utmost importance, fundamental research is at risk right now.

I am a doctorate student at Northwestern University studying the fundamental properties of fly thermosensation. Years ago, our lab discovered how fruit flies sense temperature and is now applying this basic finding to more evolutionarily distant species, even flies that bite and spread fatal disease.

Disease vectors, like mosquitoes, use temperature signals to track their hosts. Our discovery of tiny cells in the antennae that detect changes in temperature presents potential opportunities to interfere with host-seeking behavior, which could have huge implications for public health.

Malaria- and yellow fever-carrying mosquitoes are not common in North America yet, so why should we care? Well, mosquitoes and other flies are cold-blooded, so they have acute sensitivity to temperature changes for survival. As temperatures surge due to climate change, flies are moving into new geographic regions, often closer to humans. For example, on June 21, 2024, West Nile virus-carrying mosquitoes were found for the first time in Evanston.

Many private funding sources and biotech companies do not fund basic research; their business models simply demand a more immediate return on their investment. Instead, the government typically funds basic biological research through agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. The process for applying for federal funding requires background research, a detailed experimental plan and preliminary data.

I recently applied for my first individual NIH grant. My submitted documents amounted to 51 pages. This month, a panel of 31 scientists from universities across the U.S. will gather to debate the feasibility of my research proposal, the quality of my training plan and my overall potential as a scientist. The NIH has said in the past that only around 20% receive grants, but budget cuts in 2025 will no doubt lower this number in 2026.

These cuts impact the economy: In Illinois alone, NIH funding of $1.28 billion supported $3.63 billion in economic activity, according to a 2024 report by United for Medical Research.

As a scientist, I do not usually think about profit or economic benefit. I instead think about flies, how they sense temperature and the next experiments. But I am worried: Continuous and intermittent delays are damaging. Labs and graduate programs are shrinking with the threat of losing funding. This will have a long-standing impact on current projects and the future of research.

Because fundamental research is the preliminary step to applied or translational research — e.g., finding cures for diseases — this direct avenue from basic research to saving lives may disappear. If we want effective and creative fixes to medical problems, we cannot limit the scope of new ideas.

Now is the time to contact your representatives and advocate for science before it’s too late.

Genevieve Nemeth is a Ph.D. student in biology at Northwestern University studying how flies sense temperature.