A group of scientists has called on the US federal government to "cease its wholesale assault" on science.



Roughly 2,000 leading researchers, mostly from the United States, published an open letter to the administration of US President Donald Trump on Monday. They include Nobel laureates such as Harvey J. Alter, who was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work leading to the discovery of the Hepatitis C virus.



The letter says: "For over 80 years, wise investments by the US government have built up the nation's research enterprise, making it the envy of the world. Astoundingly, the Trump administration is destabilizing this enterprise by gutting funding for research."



The letter notes that funds are being cut particularly in the fields of medicine and climate change. It says, "Other countries will lead the development of novel disease treatments, clean energy sources and the new technologies of the future."



It says, "We hold diverse political beliefs, but we are united as researchers in wanting to protect independent scientific inquiry."



Some universities have stopped hiring new researchers following the federal government's funding cuts and the effects are spreading.