‘We’re no longer attracting top talent’: the brain drain killing American science

‘We’re making progress, we have a lot of really cool new innovations that could defeat the infections,’ said Ian Morgan. ‘But if we stop doing the work, we lose the war.’ Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty Images

In April 2025, less than three months after Donald Trump returned to the White House, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put out its latest public health alert on so-called “superbugs”, strains of bacteria resistant to antibiotics.

These drug-resistant germs, the CDC warned, are responsible for more than 3m infections in the US each year, claiming the lives of up to 48,000 Americans.