NPR frames the reduction of this empire as if it’s some catastrophic blow to biomedical science. In reality, it is the clearest indictment of the system we’ve built – a system where:
- aging PIs retain massive labs long after their most productive years
- Harvard and other nonprofits quietly subsidize them through indirects and internal slush funds
- trainees serve as disposable workers in an oversaturated job market
- cronyism dictates who gets resources
- cancer is wielded as a fundraising weapon