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Biomedical Research

Following World War II, federal support for biomedical research was greatly expanded and so was the role of the National Institute of Health, which was renamed the National Institutes of Health to reflect the growth of research functions. Today NIH encompasses seventeen research institutes, two research divisions, the world's largest research hospital, the National Library of Medicine, the National Center for Human Genome Research, the National Center for Research Resources, and the Fogarty International Center. Its operating budget in 1990 was 7.6 billion dollars.

NIH conducts research on its Bethesda, Maryland campus and supports research throughout the United States by means of a competitive grant system. This research deals with every aspect of human biology and almost every disease and disability.

Some of the major topics of research today include: oncogenes and the question of how a normal cell becomes a cancer; the workings of immune cells and how they help to defend the body against cancer; the isolation of genes, including those for blood clotting factors; brain changes in Alzheimer's disease; the application of genetic engineering techniques to vaccine production; the discovery and isolation of bone growth factors; the study of neurotransmitters and modulation in the brain; cancer risk from passive smoking; new uses of the laser for the treatment of eye diseases; the construction of artificial chromosomes; the development and refinement of new body imaging technologies, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and, of course, the study of AIDS.

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