An article in the July issue of BBC Focus highlights dangerous jobs in science. It’s all about people risking their lives to advance our knowledge and understanding of the world today - covering everything from volcanologists and hurricane hunters, to deadly snake venom collectors. You may think perhaps a lab worker dealing with deadly cultures may be included in the roll call of dangerous jobs. However, it is not the working side of being a researcher that gives Michael Conn his place in the article.
Conn is an Associate Director of the Oregon National Primate Research Centre, and has been targeted by the increasingly powerful animal rights extremist movement in the US. It is the actions of this group that prompted him to draw on his experiences and write a new book with James Parker, called The Animal Research War. It looks at the arguments used by animal activists, and explains the truth behind animal research.
The book has received reviews both rewarding the openness Conn has shown, and critising the book for not going far enough in explaining animal research (Deborah Blum, New Scientist; Andrew Read, Nature). In any case, it is an initiation into the world animal extremists live in - an acknowledgement of the extent to which they are willing to go in order to get their message across - to stop all research with animals.
Blogger the Scientific Activist has written about The Animal Research War, and makes an interesting point that this book highlights the web of support different organisations have created – and people who support organisations with links to extremists should be aware of exactly where their support goes; you can read the blog entry here.
The review in New Scientist sums up what needs to be done in the USA, saying the book ‘asks the research community and its supporters to fight back against a well-honed opposition’. The US science community is under threat from the actions of the extremists. With the UK having better laws we have seen their activity die down, and extremists prosecuted. More information on the decline in the UK can be seen in a recent item on the RDS website. For the most part, scientists are able to be proud and loud about the work they do - this needs to be translated across the pond to prevent people being intimidated into abandoning potentially life saving research.
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