Numerous experts have discussed the impact of scientific research on the vitality of our economy. It is not a new idea, but the message may be taking on a new edge.

Advances in our understanding of the human genome and the genomes of a growing number of other organisms can only be described as amazing. The age of biology has truly arrived, and we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. The potential impact of this newly derived knowledge is hard to imagine. But will we miss the chance to grasp the brass ring when it is before us?

It is well-known that if you put a frog into a pot of cool water, you can heat the water to boiling and the frog will simply stay there until it dies. On the other hand, if you toss a frog into boiling water, the frog will immediately jump out with only minimal damage. I contend that as a state, and as a nation, we are like the frog that is slowly being cooked, by the steady reduction of public support for education and for scientific research.

What does science have to do with this? Let’s look at one area — agriculture. Modern agriculture is a high-technology enterprise that is based on very sophisticated research, as are human medicine and many other research areas that provide the seeds of innovation that fuel American technological advances. A recent study by economists at the University of Minnesota and the University of California estimates that public funding for agricultural research yields $20 or more for every $1 invested. That is dollars to consumers who benefit from low-cost, plentiful and safe foods, it is jobs, and it is tax dollars to support our schools, roads, etc.

California agriculture is special. It is a $32 billion industry, producing more than 350 commodities and providing more than half the fresh fruits and vegetables for our nation. And it creates more than 1 million jobs. It sounds like a good investment to me, but state support for agricultural research has been declining dramatically in recent years. This is a serious matter — the trend will inevitably undermine the leading component of the California economy — with serious consequences for both the state and the U.S. food supply, and, ultimately, our national security.

Equally serious is the decline of support for higher education and for scientific research in our research universities. Enormous strides have been made over the recent past — advances in genomics, nanotechnology and stem cell biology. Yet today, a grant that is written has less than a 1-in-10 chance of being funded. Writing of a single grant can easily consume three months from the life of a member of our faculty. This is an activity that they are not paid to do, yet if they do not do it, they cannot do research, because the state does not support research to any significant extent.

Even so, well over 90 percent of our faculty at the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences have competitive grants that fund their research.

Every member of our faculty is the equivalent of a small-business owner who has to generate capital to make payroll or to buy supplies and equipment. All the while, they are training the Ph.D.s who will lead our economy in the future and generating the new technologies that will fire the economic engines of the future.

Faculty in our college bring to the university competitive grants and research contracts that average more than twice the salaries paid by the state. That alone is a good investment. Add to that the value of the trained workforce and the novel technologies coming from their laboratories and the case is compelling.

But why then do I feel that we as a society are like the frog in warm

Thomas Baldwin is the dean of UC Riverside’s College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.