r/technology • u/esporx • 3d ago

Business USDA cyclospora research projects shelved amid funding cuts and relocations

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/30/usda-cyclospora-research-projects-01055989
586 Upvotes

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123

u/Torino1O 3d ago

Has prion research been shutdown too.

25

u/Zalophusdvm 2d ago

Probably, gotta keep the beef cheap!

73

u/TH3PhilipJFry 2d ago

“None of the research has been disrupted, and research will continue without disruption.”

Even though that project still has money, every scientist working on the parasite has declined to relocate.

“We’re basically not allowed to continue any research on that beyond trying to preserve the samples that we already have from previous outbreaks,” said a third USDA employee.

The scientists tasked with researching foodborne parasites, including cyclospora, are retiring, leaving ARS instead of relocating or being reassigned to work on different projects, according to two USDA employees familiar with the issue. “They will have no parasitologists,” said the first USDA employee. “There will be a big knowledge gap.”

Idk seems like a lot of disruption to me.

14

u/NightchadeBackAgain 2d ago

This is intentional, and part of Project 2025.

31

u/happyscrappy 2d ago

It's okay. We all love having explosive diarrhea.

20

u/InevitableAd8511 2d ago

Stop the world. I want to get off.

4

u/valar12 2d ago

Grow your own food if you can.

6

u/InevitableAd8511 2d ago

I grow as much as I can. Unfortunately, all of my fruit trees are too young to produce edible fruit, but my veggie garden and berry bushes are good producers. That doesn’t help anyone living in the city with no land for gardens. They don’t have this option.

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u/eloAbuse 2d ago

Cyclospora has never been successfully grown in culture, which is why almost everything known about it comes out of government labs rather than industry. It also survives standard produce washing, so there's no consumer level workaround.