Nobel Laureate David MacMillan has warned that recent funding cuts to scientific research in the United States have slowed innovation, comparing the impact to “pulling the handbrake” on the world’s most productive scientific ecosystem.

US federal government funding for basic research would fall by more than a third from $30 billion in 2026 from $45 billion, according to a new analysis by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) cited by Chemistry World, published by the London-based Royal Society of Chemistry.

Further, if Congress enacts the plan, science funding would decrease more broadly – including basic and applied work, as well as at R&D facilities – by about 22%, from $198 billion to $154 billion, the report added.

"it's a massive existential threat to what'

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