www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 315 5 JANUARY 2007 27

CR

ED

IT: E

RIC

DR

AP

ER

/WH

ITE

HO

US

E/H

AN

DO

UT

/CN

P/C

OR

BIS

Japanese Budget Sags Japans spending on research is poised to dropfor the third year in a row. The debt-plaguedgovernment has budgeted $29.5 billion, down1.8%, for science spending in the fiscal yearbeginning 1 April. Losers include RIKENsRadioactive Isotope Beam Factory, whose$23 million amounts to a 28% dip and abouthalf of what had been requested for the just-completed exotic isotope accelerator. Parlia-ment is expected to make minor changesbefore signing off soon.

Not all the research news is grim for scien-tists. Funding for competitively reviewed grantswill grow 1.4% to $4 billion. In addition, asupplemental budget provides money primarilyto strengthen the earthquake resistance of sci-entific facilities. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, scienceadviser to the prime minister, notes that combining the two budgets results in a net2.3% rise in science-related spending over lastyear. But critics contend the supplementalbudget simply steers money into the politicallypowerful construction sector.

DENNIS NORMILE

Rovers ReloadedA New Years resolution shared by NASAsSpirit and Opportunity: Think more for myself.The pair of weary Mars explorers have receiveda software upgrade to allow them to recognizedust devils and clouds and select only rele-vant sections of the images to transmit toEarth, freeing up communication time andmanual labor for scientists. Other new fea-tures include better obstacle avoidance soft-ware. The rovers missions are entering theirfourth year. ELI KINTISCH

Exhibiting RestraintPlans to build a new government-funded sci-ence and technology museum in Ottawa havebeen undercut by Canadas top treasury official.The Canada Science and Technology collectionis currently dispersed among three buildings,including a former bakery. The long hoped-forbuilding would bring the 36,000-item collec-tion, which includes Canadian-made satellites,antique scientific and medical instruments, andnanotechnology exhibits, under one roof alongwith curators, researchers, and cataloguers.Museum officials cut back their proposal lastyear from $600 million to $400 million. Buteven the smaller figure is too much for TreasuryBoard of Canada president John Baird, whocited more important taxpayer needs in aninterview with the Ottawa Citizen newspaperlast week. A newly appointed museum chair willnow reevaluate the situation. PAUL WEBSTER

SCIENCESCOPE

Congress has told the National Institutesof Health (NIH) to pick up the pace of itsresearch on autism, with an emphasis onearly diagnosis, treatment, and the roleof environmental factors. The Combat-ing Autism Act, passed in the waninghours of the 109th Congress and signedinto law 19 December by Pres identGeorge W. Bush, authorizes a majorincrease in spending and orders NIH tocome up with a detailed research plan formaking progress in understanding andtreating the disorder.

Its giving us a flashing green light tomove faster on autism, says Tom Insel,director of NIHs National Institute of Men-tal Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Whatreauthorization bills dont provide, how-ever, is any money. And withmost government agenciespreparing for f lat budgetsin 2 0 0 7 ( s e e p . 24), JonRetzlaff of the Federation ofAmerican Societies for Experi-mental Biology, says itsinconceivable that legisla-tors will divert scarce NIHdollars to autism.

NIH estimates that it spent$101 million last year onautism-related research. Thenew law allows that figure toincrease to $132 million thisyear and to $210 million by2011. In addition, the Centersfor Disease Control and Pre-vention in Atlanta, Georgia,which focuses on the epidemiology of autism,could grow its programs from the currentbudget of $15 million to $21 million by 2011.

Advocates for autism research hope thatthings will speed up even without an imme-diate funding boost. For example, an inter-agency committee that coordinates autismresearch must now submit for the first timean annual report on progress in causes,diagnosis, and treatment. That certainlyputs more emphasis on its role, saysManny DiCicco-Bloom of the RobertWood Johnson Medical School in Piscat-away, New Jersey, and a member of theboard of directors of the nonprofit AutismSpeaks. Perhaps with more teeth, [thecommittee] can make real changes in pol-icy and levels of performance.

The new law also orders the committee,which reports to the Health and HumanServices secretary, to create and implementa strategic plan for autism research. Advo-cates say thats much better than a 2003report from the committee, a list of short-and long-term goals with no rankings orrecommendations on how to carry themout. The plan must be updated every yearand include a draft budget for accomplish-ing research goals. Insel, who chairs thecommittee, says hes already convened aworking group. He hopes the plan will beready by the summer.

Although the law doesnt set any specificfunding levels, it directs NIH to expand, iffunds are forthcoming, its work on diagno-sis, treatment, and possible environmental

causes of autism. Thats music to the ears ofJon Shestack of the advocacy group CureAutism Now, who says that NIH hasnt donenearly enough on this front.

In November, an ad-hoc NIH reviewcommittee agreed and recommended inves-tigating the possible role of neurotoxic com-pounds such as pesticides and mercury,developing new biomarkers for exposure,and studying exposure in pregnant womenwith autistic children. Insel and other scien-tists agree that those topics are importantbut argue that, absent more money, NIHshould stick with its existing programs.The research agenda is excellent, saysepidemiologist Eric Fombonne of McGillUniversity in Montreal, Canada.

ERIK STOKSTAD

New Autism Law Focuses on Patients, Environment

BIOMEDICAL POLICY

New focus. President George W. Bush signs into law new marchingorders for understanding and combating autism.

Published by AAAS

on N

ovem

ber 1

3, 2

011

ww

w.s

cien

cem

ag.o

rgD

ownl

oade

d fro

m