I don't want to see the pictures: Science writing and the visibility of animal experiments

Public Understanding of Science

Volumn 7, Issue 1, 1998, Pages 27-40

  Turner, J Z ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LONDON   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ANIMAL; ANIMAL EXPERIMENT; ANIMAL WELFARE; ARTICLE; ATTITUDE; BIOMEDICAL AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH; CLONING; COMPARATIVE STUDY; ECONOMIST; EMPIRICAL APPROACH; EMPIRICAL RESEARCH; HUMAN; INFORMATION DISSEMINATION; INFORMATION SERVICE; LITERATURE; NATURAL SCIENCE; NEW SCIENTIST; ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION; PERSONNEL; PHOTOGRAPHY; PUBLISHING; RESEARCH; SCIENCE; TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT; XENOGRAFT;

BIOMEDICAL AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH; ECONOMIST; EMPIRICAL APPROACH; NATURE; NEW SCIENTIST; TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT;

ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION; ANIMAL WELFARE; ANIMALS; ATTITUDE; CLONING, ORGANISM; EDITORIAL POLICIES; EMPIRICAL RESEARCH; HUMANS; INFORMATION DISSEMINATION; INFORMATION SERVICES; LITERATURE; NATURE; ORGAN TRANSPLANTATION; PHOTOGRAPHY; PUBLISHING; RESEARCH; RESEARCH PERSONNEL; SCIENCE; TRANSPLANTATION, HETEROLOGOUS;

EID: 0031598267     PISSN: 09636625     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/096366259800700103     Document Type: Article

References (143)

1. Home Office (Animals, Byelaws and Coroners Unit), The Use of Animals in Scientific Procedures (http://www.open.gov.uk/home_off/aspaf.htm, January 1997). This states, "The government is very conscious of public concerns about the use of animals in experiments and other scientific procedures and accepts that many people would like to stop all such work."
2. S. R. L. Clark, Ethics and Biotechnology, ed. A. Dyson and J. Harris (London: Routledge, 1994), pp. 13-32;
3. P. Singer, Animal Liberation, 2d ed. (London: Pimlico, 1995), chapter 6.
4. 5 News, 18 April 1997.
5. S. Neumann, T.P. Doubell, T. Leslie, and C. J. Woolf, Nature 384 (1996): 361.
6. M. W. Sornson et al., Nature 384 (1996): 327.
7. H. Mashimo, D. C. Wu, D. K. Podolsky, and M. C. Fishman, Science 274 (1996): 265.
8. S. Sakai et al., Nature 384 (1996): 353.
9. J.-M. Alonso, W. M. Ursey, and R. C. Reid, Nature 383 (1996): 819.
10. A. Kirkwood, M. C. Rioult, and M. F. Bear, Nature 381 (1996): 526.
11. I. S. Grewel et al., Science 273 (1996): 1867.
12. W. Young, Science 273 (1996): 451.
13. R. Maldonado et al., Science 273 (1996): 657.
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15. H. W. D. Matthes et al., Nature 383 (1996): 823.
16. P. Singer, Animal Liberation, 2d edition (London: Pimlico, 1995), chapter 2;
17. B. E. Rollin, The Unheeded Cry: Animal Consciousness, Animal Pain, and Science (Oxford University Press, 1989), chapters 5-6.
18. The use of "objective" language and the suggestion of the animals' complicity seems to be related to the mechanisms of atonement, blame-shifting, and distancing used in hunting and animal slaughtering as discussed by James Serpell, In the Company of Animals: A Study of Human-Animal Relationships (Cambridge University Press, 1996), chapters 11-12.
19. The use of the word "sacrifice" for the killing of laboratory animals has also been noted by others [for example, R. S. Mendelsohn, Foreword to H. Ruesch, Slaughter of the Innocent (Civitas, 1983)].
20. Another example of blame-shifting is the frequent suggestion that animal experiments are inevitable, or a regrettable necessity somehow beyond normal moral calculation. For an example of this approach, see Nuffield Council on Bioethics, Animal-to-Human Transplants: The Ethics of Xenotransplantation (London, 1996), paragraph 10.8, which refers to the use of animals as "an undesirable but unavoidable necessity." Some skeptics have suggested that this "necessity" may be related to the professional careers of members of the animal experimentation community, especially since there is sometimes a suggestion that "we" will be able to do without animal experiments in the future, "but not yet."
21. (See, for example, Professor Nick Hastie quoted in A. Irwin, "Fair Genes for Fowl?," The THES, (15 December 1995): 17, characterizing animal experiments as "a necessary evil for progress," although "it could be that in ten or twenty years. . . transgenic animal experiments [will] no longer . . . be necessary.")
22. Editorial by J. Maddox, Nature 377 (1995): 381.
23. Advertisement by BioSource International, Science 273 (1996): 1503.
24. H. Cheng, Y. Cao, and L. Olson, Science 273 (1996): 510.
25. A. Coghlan, New Scientist (19 October 1996): 22.
26. S. Braun, Science 273 (1996): 738.
27. H. Mashimo, D. C. Wu, D. K. Podolsky, and M. C. Fishman, Science 274 (1996): 265.
28. W. Roush, Science 270 (1995): 234-35.
29. Y. Yang and J. M. Wilson, Science 273 (1996): 1862.
30. M. Sibilia and E. F. Wagner, Science 269 (1995): 234; this wording is repeated in many other papers.
31. A. Berger, New Scientist (20 January 1996): 15.
32. See also a reader's letter objecting to this report: A. Krska, New Scientist (2 March 1996): 51.
33. M. Yokoi et al., Science 273 (1996): 647; this wording is repeated in many other papers.
34. H. Blankesteijn, New Scientist (2 November 1996): 10.
35. The Economist (23 December 1996): 125.
36. C. A. Loomis et al., Nature 382 (1996): 360-1;
37. O. Behar et al., Nature 383 (1996): 527;
38. C. Chiang et al., Nature 383 (1996): 409;
39. A. Schumacher, C. Faust, and T. Magnuson, Nature 383 (1996): 253.
40. H. Cheng, Y. Cao, and L. Olson, Science 273 (1996): 512.
41. Picture credit: B. C. Yu, Science 273 (1996): 1801.
42. F. Tagliavini et al., Science 276 (1997): 1121 note 10.
43. The Economist (17 May 1997): 124.
44. Campaign advertisement by PETA, reproduced in Science 272 (1996): 26.
45. R. Nathan, Science 382 (1996): 744; picture credit: F. Cho.
46. "Supermodels," The Economist (8 July 1995): 101-2.
47. Cartoon by C. Tomita, Nature 382 (1996): 579;
48. M. Watanabe, Nature 382 (1996): 629
49. Cartoon credit: Birch, Nature 381 (1996): 722.
50. New Scientist (2 March 1996): 51.
51. M. Earnes, The THES (22 September 1995); picture credit: S. McGowan.
52. Picture credit: C. Badland, Science 272 (1996): 655.
53. A. Lawler, Science 273 (1996): 175; picture credit: Institute for Biomedical Problems, Moscow.
54. W. Roush, Science 274 (1996): 1608.
55. J. M. W. Slack, Nature 383 (1996): 765.
56. B. Holmes, New Scientist (9 December 1995): 10.
57. A. Coghlan, New Scientist (19 October 1996): 22.
58. B. Holmes, New Scientist (14 September 1996): 16.
59. B. E. Rollin, The Unheeded Cry; Animal Consciousness, Animal Pain, and Science. Paperback ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989), p. 110.
60. A. Lawler, Science 268 (1995): 1692,
61. picture credit: NASA; R. Dalton, Nature 375 (1995): 622.
62. V. Kiernan, New Scientist (4 May 1996): 5;
63. A. Lawler, Science 272 (1996): 26.
64. Science 269 (1995): 927;
65. R. Stone, Science 273 (1996): 1040.
66. C. Holden, Science 275 (1997): 313;
67. T. Reichhardt, Nature 387 (1997): 4;
68. J. Kaiser, Science 276 (1997): 519;
69. M. Gordon, New Scientist (3 May 1997): 6.
70. See for example: J. Cohen, Science 272 (1996): 805;
71. H. F. McFarland, Science 274 (1996): 2037-38;
72. T. Gura, Science 274 (1996): 922;
73. E. Pennisi, Science 274 (1996): 343;
74. K. W. Kinzler and B. Vogelstein, Nature 382 (1996): 672;
75. C. O'Brien, Science 271 (1996): 1499;
76. A. Aguzzi, Nature 381 (1996): 735;
77. The Economist (8 July 1995): 102.
78. B. Holmes, New Scientist (14 September 1996): 16.
79. See for example: "Message in a Bottle," The Economist (22 April 1995): 115-19;
80. W. Roush, "Hunting for Animal Alternatives," Science 274 (1996): 168-71;
81. A. Motluk, "Experts alone should not decide on animal tests," New Scientist (6 May 1995): 10;
82. A. Abbott, "Delays in alternative tests deter animal ban," Nature 383 (1996): 748.
83. J. Kaiser, Science 270 (1995): 1427;
84. A. Abbott, Nature 378 (1995): 427.
85. D. Concar, New Scientist (28 October 1995): 32.
86. G. Vines, New Scientist (21 January 1995): 49-50.
87. Editorial, New Scientist (31 August 1996): 3
88. N. D. Barnard and S. R. Kaufman, Scientific American (February 1997), 64-66. The last paragraph of this article mentions that it is possible also to have "ethical objections" to animal research on the grounds of the increasing knowledge of the complexities of animals' lives recently revealed by science.
89. P. Bateson, The THES (11 April 1997): 19.
90. Editorial, New Scientist (19 April 1997): 3.
91. A. Irwin, interview with Andrew Linzey, The THES (17 November 1995): 18-19; in which Linzey is quoted as saying, "To inflict suffering on innocent, undefended, unprotected beings is nothing less than intrinsically evil";
92. A. Irwin, The THES (9 August 1996): 15, discusses the ideas of animals' "rights" and "intrinsic value" and ends by quoting Mary Midgley as saying that the present debate must lead to a "steady diminution in the use of animals";
93. K. Rawles, The THES (27 September 1996): 16-17
94. is a response to a previous article by Roger Scruton, The THES (30 August 1996): 17, arguing the case against "animal rights" in general;
95. see also a recent article by Peter Singer, "Angling for Equality of Consideration," The THES (28 February 1997): 22. which argues that "No matter what the nature of the being, the principle of equality requires that its suffering be counted equally with the like suffering . . . of any other being." None of the above articles discusses animal experimentation directly.
96. An interview with Colin Blakemore, "The Sight Seer," A. Irwin, The THES (24 May 1996): 17, allows Blakemore to defend his experiments on cats and monkeys and present himself as a martyr to scientific rationality ("I am a target because I speak out in defence of research.")
97. Letters, The THES (5 July 1996): 11;
98. The THES (26 July 1996), 13.
99. All these letters were in response to a single article by Roger Scruton (see note 64 above); they include one from Richard Ryder, author of Victims of Science (1975, 1983) and originator of the term "speciesism."
100. M. Barinaga, Science 269 (1995): 475;
101. The Economist (29 July 1995): 72;
102. A. Coghlan, New Scientist (5 August 1995): 7;
103. P. Brown, New Scientist, (24 February 1996), 18.
104. For example, K. Sutliff, Science 269 (1995): 475.
105. The Economist (29 July 1995): 72.
106. Picture credits: Rockefeller University and Marty Lederhandler, New Scientist (5 August 1995): 7.
107. B. F. Cravatt et al., Science 268 (1995): 1506-9.
108. The Economist (17 June 1995): 113;
109. C. O'Brien, New Scientist (17 June 1995): 20;
110. P. Bateman, New Scientist (8 July 1995): 54.
111. The Economist (17 June 1995): 113.
112. On the paradox of attitudes towards "pets" and other animals, see J. Serpell, In the Company of Animals: A Study of Human-Animal Relationships (London: Basil Blackwell, 1986; reprint Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), chapter 1.
113. P. Bateman, New Scientist (8 July 1995): 54.
114. D. King, The THES (13 September 1996): 17;
115. The Economist, (21 October 1995), 137-39;
116. G. Vines, New Scientist, (9 March 1996): 4;
117. R. Nowak, Science 266 (1994): 1149;
118. A. Irwin, The THES (12 January 1996): 3;
119. D. Dickson, Nature 377 (1995): 185-86;
120. A. Coghlan, New Scientist (31 August 1996): 10.
121. Nuffield Council on Bioethics, Animal-to-Human Transplants; The Ethics of Xenotransplantation (London: Nuffield Council on Bioethics, 1996).
122. See particularly chapter 4, "Animal Concerns: Principles"; pp. 112-13 in chapter 10, "Conclusions and Recommendations"; on standards of animal care, chapters, "Animal Concerns: Practice," particularly paragraph 5.7.
123. R. Nowak, Science 266 (1994): 1149.
124. D. Dickson, Nature 377 (1995): 186.
125. I. Wilmut, A. E. Schnieke, J. McWhir, A. J. Kind, and K. H. S. Campbell, Nature 385 (1997): 810-13.
126. N. Williams, Science 275 (1997): 1415.
127. D. Butler and M. Wadman, Nature 386 (1997): 8.
128. E. Pennisi and N. Williams, Science 275 (1997): 1415. Photo credit AP/Newsflash.
129. E. Marshall, Science 275 (1997): 1733.
130. D. Butler and M. Wadman, Nature 386 (1997): 9
131. PETA's Animal Times (Spring 1997): 21.
132. Editorial, New Scientist (15 March 1997): 3.
133. M. Gordon, New Scientist (26 April 1997): 16-17.
134. H. Griffin and I. Wilmut, New Scientist (22 March 1997): 49.
135. Editorial, Nature 386 (1997): 1.
136. Cartoon by Birch, Nature 386 (1997): 8.
137. Editorial, The Economist (1 March 1997): 18.
138. H. LaFollette and N. Shanks, Brute Science: Dilemmas of Animal Experimentation (London: Routledge, 1996), p. 32, and chapters 3-4.
139. As an editorial in Science puts it, "All research leads to biomedical advances" (J. Daie and R. Wyse, Science 274 (1996): 701).
140. See the discussion in D. Nelkin, Selling Science: How the Press Covers Science and Technology, rev. ed, (New York: W. H. Freeman, 1995), pp. 163-64.
141. The psychological significance of the use of "objective" language in describing animal experiments has been discussed in G. Devereux, From Anxiety to Method in the Behavioral Sciences (The Hague and Paris: Mouton, 1967), pp. 235-37.
142. For a recent article including criticism of the working of the 1986 Act and the use of animals as models for human disease, see J. Baty, The THES (29 August 1997): 18.
143. The relation between information and public acceptability is a disputed area. Colin Blakemore, for example, believes that more explanation by scientists who use animals would increase the public's understanding and acceptance of animal experiments (see his comments, quoted in note 94 above). The relationship between public information and acceptability of biotechnology is discussed in W. Wagner et al., "Europe ambivalent on biotechnology," Nature 387 (1997): 845-47, which suggests that the better-informed European public is less likely to find animal experiments morally acceptable.