Human anatomy

188 Nature Vol. 261 May 20 1976 correspondence Class structure in science national theme. creased number of allergic reactions SIR,-To be castigated in a leader A journal like Nature which is from the murine rather than human column is for me a unique and not looked upon as the epitome of scien- perspective. The rat is evolving; we are entirely pleasant experience, but one tific accuracy has a special duty to be the catalysts speeding its evolution. which, given the choice, I would rather certain of its facts. If there is a class Consider an animal handler ap- have had for something I did say than war in science (which I doubt), your proaching a colony of rats, to some of for something I did not say. role, Sir, is that of agent provocateur. whom he or she is allergic. Is it not In talking to the Research and De- J presented my talk not as a means natural for the handler to select for velopment Society on April 27 I was of expounding specific proposals but experimentation only those animals careful to say that I did not believe to help in generating serious discussion who do not cause an allergic reaction? simple direction was the right way to on a vital topic. Your handling of it Faced with a roomful of rats, who of will almost certainly be prejudicial to us would willingly choose the rat which harness the resources of university that objective, but if any of your caused our eyes to tear, our nose to science to our national objectives. I readers would like to know what I drip or our bronchi to constrict. We made no suggestion that (to quote your actually said I shall be happy to send are selectively destroying non-aller- leader) "research funding in universi- them a copy. I will even send one to genic animals leaving behind the ties should be approved only if the you, Sir, if you are interested in fact allergenic to act as breeders. One can research has clear economic benefit". rather than fiction. see additional problems arising in the Nor did I say that "individual univer- M. K. MCQUILLAN future. Rats and mice are usually sities should be designated as centres Tewkesbury, UK picked up by the tail. Just as selection of expertise for certain industrial research purposes". for super-allergenic strains increases I emphasized tha:t to benefit more Frozen mineral waters the rat's chances of survival, so does Sm,-Jn his article (March 18, page selection for the short-tailed or tailless directly from university science was essentially a matter of changing the 182) Allan Piper makes it clear that as rat. traditional attitudes towards research soon as the exploitation of the mineral If we must root around in the rats' of other than the very pure kind, and wealth of Antarctica becomes a com- cage for five minutes just to find his said in this connection that it "would mercial proposition there will be a tail, we suspect that we'll either move help, perhaps, as a conditioning major political conflict. Surely the way to the next cage or suffer a bitten fin- mechanism, if all applications for to handle this situation is to tackle ger. In short, the super-allergenic, tail- funds for academic research were re- the problem now, while the commercial less rat is a problem only for the quired to state what would come from issues are still relatively remote. Yet experimenter; from inside the cage it its successful completion, with the l am very much afraid that the temp- will undoubtedly be greeted with words 'a better understanding of' or tation will be to postpone any resolution chuckles or cheers. any paraphrase of those words of the situation until the problem JACK A. KORNBLATT banned". No question here of "clear arises, by which time it will, of course, MARY JuDITH KoRNBLATT economic benefit" or approval based be too late to avoid direct confronta- Concordia University, on such a concept-just a suggestion tion and very probably military inter- Montreal, Canada that clear thinking about where a pro- vention. ject fits into the scheme of things I believe that action is necessary now Human anatomy would help the attitude-changing pro- to defuse this situation; for example by SIR,-Your correspondent Anthony B. cess. My mention of banning the an agreement to sign over an mineral Harris (May 6th, page 10) describes his phrase "a better understanding of" rights on the continent to the United "experiments" on young ladies purport- was a half-humorous reference (well Nations Organisation. Tt is to be hoped ing to determine a functional basis understood by the audience, in which that signatories to the Antarctic Treaty for structural asymmetry. His results, research management was fairly will not sidestep the issue at their which suggest to him a positive corre- strongly represented) to the fact that meetings this year and next. lation between handedness and asym- such a phrase is the resort of nearly J. A. EADES metry, are at complete variance with all woolly proposal writers. University of Bristol, UK our observations on a thousand normal In suggesting that we might consider individuals, although asymmetry is allocating a major interest area to Allergic reactions certainly the rule rather than the each academic institution I was not Sm,-Reports that animal handlers are exception. thinking of industrial research and allergic to laboratory strains of rats, Since Anthony Harris' measurements made no mention of it. The examples mice and rabbits are becoming increas- are all of circumference or volume, I gave of the kind of theme institutions ingly pre v a I en t (Correspondence, this may account for his inability to might tackle were very broad divisions March 25, page 280). In the pages of detect equivalent asymmetries in the of our national life and the objects of Nature and Science, the problem has two-dimensional representations of the the suggestion were been considered only from the human human form to be found in the • to ensure .that all aspects of our point of view; we bemoan the fact that National Gallery; these asymmetries, communal existence were being many of our colleagues must either however, are observable in sculpture thought about walk around with gauze masks or gulp of many centuries and cultures. • to generate groups of people of antihistamines in order to survive their R. c. CONNOLLY different disciplines sharing a com- experimental subjects. We suggest that P. H. DANGER!'IEI.Il mon interest in an important the time has come to view the in- University of Liverpool, UK © 1976 Nature Publishing Group