In the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (USA), four heavyweights, Bruce Alberts, Marc W. Kirschner, Shirley Tilghman, and Harold Varmus, provide fundamental criticism of the US biomedical research system, and offer ideas for ‘Rescuing US biomedical research from its systemic flaws’. Their main point is that ‘The long-held but erroneous assumption of never-ending rapid growth in biomedical science has created an unsustainable hypercompetitive system that is discouraging even the most outstanding prospective students from entering our profession—and making it difficult for seasoned investigators to produce their best work. This is a recipe for long-term decline, and the problems cannot be solved with simplistic approaches.’ Most of the issues they raise are equally applicable to European biomedical research. Full article: PNAS-2014-Alberts-5773-7