Trump’s cuts at Harvard put key biomedical research resource at risk

ISTANBUL

The US President Donald Trump administration's broader $2.2 billion cuts at Harvard University have put a key biomedical research resource—the fruit fly database FlyBase—on the brink, threatening staff layoffs and the database’s ability to support efficient scientific research.

The fruit fly has been crucial to scientific discoveries for more than a century, from understanding genetic inheritance to the role of the body’s internal clock in health.

FlyBase, the online database compiling these studies, helps researchers design experiments and develop treatments, receiving about 770,000 page views each month from scientists worldwide.

“I use FlyBase every single day. It’s so essential,” said Celeste Berg, a genome sciences professor at the University of Washington who is not affiliated with FlyBase, according to a NBC report on Tuesday.

"What we know about human genes and how they function comes almost completely from model systems like drosophila," Berg added.

Humans share around 60% of their genes with fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster).

The uncertain future of FlyBase underscores the interconnected nature of scientific research, where funding cuts at a single institution can have global impacts—more than 4,000 labs utilize the database.

Harvard was receiving around $2 million annually in federal funding to maintain FlyBase, representing most of the website’s operating budget. Partner institutions—including the University of New Mexico, Indiana University, and the University of Cambridge in England—also help manage the database and benefit from it.

Brian Calvi, a biology professor at Indiana University and member of the FlyBase management team, said: “This is not just affecting Harvard."

“The ripple effect is to the international biomedical research community," Calvi said.

Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences provided temporary funding to keep FlyBase running, but Norbert Perrimon, a developmental biology professor at Harvard Medical School, said that support will end in October.

Earlier this month, a judge ordered the Trump administration to restore funding to Harvard researchers who had lost grants.

However, Perrimon said FlyBase has not yet received any money. The administration’s promised appeal could delay the funds further.