Obama backs ‘basic research’ in annual State of the Union address

President Barack Obama said in his annual State of the Union address that innovation “demands basic research”, indicating that federal support should not be cut under the broader effort to cut government spending.

Obama said that discoveries taking place in US federally funded laboratories and universities could lead to new treatments that, for example, kill cancer cells but leave healthy ones untouched, or create new lightweight vests for police officers and soldiers capable of stopping any bullet. “Don’t gut these investments in our budget,” Obama said in the speech to Congress on 24 January. “Don’t let other countries win the race for the future.”