Frozen feces are set to go to waste along with other human specimens at a Harvard lab, putting at risk decades of health research that has led to important discoveries over the last 50 years.
More than a million samples are preserved inside dozens of liquid nitrogen canisters stored in a lab at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.
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WATCH HERE"Each of these large freezers holds about 80,000 samples," noted Harvard professor of nutrition and epidemiology Heather Eliassen.
Eliassen has dedicated her career to help humanity understand the links between diet and disease. She's focused on breast cancer, and much of the data she and her team has collected stems from specimens of more than 300,000 nurse volunteers in the multi-faceted Nurses' Health Study.
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SIGN UP Blood, stool, urine, nail clippings, even tumor tissues have been offered up by these volunteers every two years since 1976 to track the changes in the human body.
"With those we can answer some really interesting questions about what things we can measure and their blood or in their urine before they develop disease that might be indicators of risk for developing disease," Eliassen said.
The tests have led to breakthroughs, including the impact of trans fats, gut health and the effects of smoking.
"It [costs] a couple hundred thousand dollars a year in order to have the liquid nitrogen available to keep these freezers going and maintain the samples and that was supported by a federal funding until about a month ago," Eliassen noted.
The Trump administration froze nearly $3 billion of Harvard funds while demanding to overhaul its antisemitism policies and DEI programs. The university has called it an "overreach" and sued the federal government while introducing a broad "strategy to combat antisemitism and other bigotry."
"These cuts are terrible. They're terrible!" Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said Thursday, as she announced a $30 million investment in 33 life science companies and extended the annual tax credit award by 33% from $30 million to $40 million.
"We're doubling down here in Massachusetts in science, in research, in health," she said.
More on Harvard and the Trump administration
The federal funding freeze has led to layoffs at Harvard and put programs like the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study at risk of shutting down.
While the legal battle to restore funding continues, researchers are scrambling to find funding within the next few weeks before the liquid nitrogen runs out and the specimens expire.
"We're really trying to find other resources to help cover this but it's a really big gap," Eliassen said.
