A significant portion is doled out in 5-7 figure grants to research laboratories for a particular research project with a 2-5 year time-horizon. The projects are proposed by a PI (a researcher), and conducted by students, postdocs, or other scientists. The money goes directly to equipment, materials and sometimes salaries or stipends in order to undertake the particular research project. The materials can be anything from tissue-culture materials, to DNA sequencing, to microscopy equipment, to anything else required to achieve the proposed research goal. And all of that is pricy.