Carl Zimmer Says Federal Research Cuts Could Spell Uncertain Future for Air-Borne Disease Research

New York Times columnist and Yale biophysics professor Carl Zimmer said the disruption caused by impending governmental research cuts could threaten both future air-borne disease research and national public health efforts at a Harvard book talk on Wednesday.

“I would not have predicted that the government would actually be wiping out so much funding that I’m not sure how much of the research that I’ve been talking about is going to be carried on in the near future,” Zimmer said.

At Wednesday’s event, which took place in the Harvard Science Center, Zimmer expressed concerns regarding the future of air-borne disease research given the proposed funding cuts for indirect research expenses.

During the talk, Zimmer also promoted his latest book, “Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe,” and provided an overview of the history of air-borne disease research, the future of the field, and their relation to current events.

Zimmer began the event by discussing the history of former Harvard professor William F. Wells and his wife Mildred W. Wells, as well as their research on the mechanisms of transmission for diseases like tuberculosis and influenza. According to Zimmer, research by the Wellses was largely forgotten until the Covid-19 pandemic brought their work on the spread of air-borne diseases back into the limelight.

“You might think to yourself, ‘Why have I not heard of these people?’” Zimmer said. “Science took this very strange, really unfortunate path, that there were incredible insights that were made almost a century ago, and then lost, and then rediscovered.”

Given recent public health challenges — including the measles outbreak in western Texas — Zimmer further explained the importance of applying and leveraging research on air-borne diseases.

As of Wednesday, western Texas has reported 124 cases of the measles, including one death. Zimmer pointed to insufficient vaccination rates in the region — an exemption rate of 18 percent, according to Texas Health and Human Services.

“We need about 95 percent of people to get vaccinated to protect the community,” he said. “That is why you’re now dealing with a measles outbreak in Texas, because there are communities there that are below that threshold.”

Zimmer concluded his talk by saying he thought precarity in federal support for research could threaten scientists’ ability to understand and combat infectious diseases.

“Work takes a lot of time, and it takes support,” Zimmer said. “And I’ll just close by saying it’s gonna be a lot harder if there’s not the kind of support that it needs going forward.”

“The pathogens don’t care — they’re just moved to the air, you’re going to breathe them in, whether we understand what’s happening,” he added.

— Staff Writer Mackenzie L. Boucher can be reached at mackenzie.boucher@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @Mactruck0528.