Bob Potter

Boalsburg

If you are alive today, be sure to thank science.

Consider this: In 1900 the average US life expectancy at birth was about 47 years. Today it is over 77 years…30 additional years in just over a century.

As Trump and his fellow Republicans attack science, remember that this dramatic increase in American life expectancy didn’t just happen.

We’re living longer and better because of science, including:

— Medicines for now-curable infections (such as strep) and ailments (such as diabetes)

— Surgeries for now-treatable conditions (such as stents for cardiovascular disease, knee replacements for arthritis)

— Treatments that increased cancer survival rates

— Healthier lifestyles, resulting from discoveries about diet and exercise

— Vaccines for childhood illness that once were common killers

— Vaccines for other conditions (such as Covid, pneumonia)

— Improved agricultural production and nutrition ways to combat pollution and other environmental threats weather forecasts

These advances — and more — are based on solid science supported by the government. Drug companies and other industries don’t do their own basic science — they depend on research supported by the federal government.

Imagine where we would be without the medical treatments available to us — or the healthier food, or the advanced warnings of storms. Science produces tangible benefits — to our country and to the world.

But we’re not done. Challenges will always be here — and we need science to help us meet them. That’s why Republicans’ war on science is dangerous.

The best way to protect future generations is to invest in scientific research.