Jake Saville
SCIN136
Week 1
NOAA vs. NASA

If I were to testify before congress as the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) I would lobby for more money for my program on the pretense that increasing funding would lead to more oceanic research, which in turn could help find new treatments, and potentially a cure for cancer.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention “Each year globally, about 14 million people learn they have cancer, and 8 million people die from the disease”. In the United States alone the number of deaths from cancer totals over 1,500 daily. What if some of these lives could be saved by furthering scientific exploration of the Earth’s oceans? “The National Cancer Institute estimates that about 65 percent of all cancer drugs come from marine life and plants - their bark, roots, leaves and fruits”. Currently the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is the only federal organization with a mission to explore our planets unknown oceans. In 2012 NOAA “received $4.5 billion” (Nnamani, S) from congress, which was $1billion less than their requested amount, and less than a quarter of the $18.7 billion NASA received that same year. $18.7 billion is a enormous amount of money for any government funded organization to receive, but is especially egregious when considering NOAA cannot even get the money they request, and their research may have the potential to save countless lives. Finding these treatments for cancer is not an easy task. In 18 years of studies at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution “ only one sponge has been promising enough too lure a pharmaceutical company’s interest. A compound within the sponge, called Discodermalide, has stopped cancer cells from reproducing”(cosgrove-mather). If NOAA was given more money they could increase the amount of research being done in Oceanic exploration, and potentially decrease the amount of time it may take to find a cure for cancer. Space exploration has historically been important to the United States, but should that continue in the future? Spending upwards of $20 billion a year to explore an unmeasurable amount of space, most of which we know has no chance of supporting human life is senseless. Meanwhile, here on Earth it is estimated that 95% of the oceans have gone unexplored by mankind. It is known that what little exploration of the ocean scientist have been able to do has produced medical breakthroughs. Investing more in NOAA is not only the smart thing to do, it may just save a family member or friend life.

Work Cited
Cosgrove-Mather, B. (2003, January 5). Seeking Cancer Cures on Ocean Floor. Retrieved September 10, 2015.

Nnamani, S. (2011, October 3). Government Should Fund NOAA and Marine Research, Not NASA Space Research. Retrieved September 10, 2015, from http://mic.com/articles/2218/government-should-fund-noaa-and-marine-research-not-nasa-space-research

World Cancer Day. (2015, February 3). Retrieved September 10, 2015, from http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/dcpc/resources/features/worldcancerday/