Science in times of war: oppose Russian aggression but support Russian scientists
Koonin E.V. 2022: EMBO Reports. I am writing this commentary on March 4, 2022, while Russian bombs and missiles pummel Ukrainian cities, wreaking havoc, causing suffering and death. This atrocity must stop: the world cannot afford to let this war last. In these tragic hours, it is difficult to think about what comes after the guns go silent, but there is one thing we know for sure already: the effects of this war will last for years if not decades. We must adopt and adjust.
I was born in Moscow, Russia, where I spent the first 35 years of my life, earning my PhD degree at Moscow State University. I was running a small lab at the Russian Academy of Sciences before leaving for the USA in 1991 where I head a research group at the National Center for Biotechnology Information of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). I was elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA in 2016 and Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) in 2019. Being elected to any major academy is an honor for a scientist, but my membership of the RAS felt particularly good for reasons obvious enough. It was recognition in my birth country where, in the days of my youth, there was no more coveted reward for a Soviet scientist than membership in the RAS.
Koonin E.V. 2022: Science in times of war: oppose Russian aggression but support Russian scientists. EMBO Reports 23: e54988. DOI: 10.15252/embr.202254988
