This is the reality of biomedical research today. With NIH funding level flatlining in recent years and congress leery of more spending in anything other than military, medical utility is the mantra now within NIH. The irony is that most of ENCODE people are not medical researchers and are less qualified and less experienced than human genetics researchers. This is all about money. Scientists need to eat too. And reputation, and power. It is a very high-stakes game.