U.S. Sen. Gary Peters is warning the United States could lose a competitive advantage to other nations if federal funding for research projects were to end.

He toured the Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering at Michigan State University on Friday.

During the tour, he saw locusts that could detect the smell of cancer in cells and mice that researchers hope will provide insight into how memories form and change.

But he said that research could be at risk of losing federal dollars, arguing people don’t understand the work being done.

“When we tell the story, when we talk about how this basic research can transform lives and power our economy to greater and better things and better lives for everybody else, we can make the case that this is government funding at its best,” Peters said.

Peters said it would take years to rebuild if funding were to lapse even temporarily.

“This has to be an ongoing enterprise, you have to continually invest in this,” Peters said. “You can’t just stop the research today and say we’ll take it up maybe next year or a few years from now or whenever. It’s not going to look the same. It’s not going to be as efficient.”

He said ongoing uncertainty will make it easier for other countries to recruit researchers from the United States.