Bob CollinsIs research into dog urine a waste of taxpayer money?
Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), a couple of Republicans, and some scientists apparently have had enough of the obvious answer that it is.
Cooper, the Washington Post reports, has just created the first Golden Goose Award, which honors scientific breakthroughs via research that appeared wasteful.
Federally-funded research of dog urine ultimately gave scientists and understanding of the effect of hormones on the human kidney, which in turn has been helpful for diabetes patients. A study called “Acoustic Trauma in the Guinea Pig” resulted in treatment of early hearing loss in infants. And that randy screwworm study? It helped researchers control the population of a deadly parasite that targets cattle–costing the government $250,000 but ultimately saving the cattle industry more than $20 billion, according to Cooper’s office.
Cooper says that his original inspiration for the Golden Goose Award was the long-running “Golden Fleece Awards” that the late Sen. William Proxmire (D-Wisc.) bestowed upon the most wasteful government spending, beginning in 1975. More recently, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has taken up that mantle. In a report last year on the National Science Foundation, Coburn blasted frivolous-sounding research that received federal funding, including one study that put shrimp on miniature treadmills and another that asked smokers to mail in their toenail clippings.
Toenails?
“Sometimes the bad news is not really bad news,” Cooper said this week, “just something that it is easy to take a cheap shot at.”
