INSIGHTS
that the number of Americans believing that ethical animal research is “morally wrong” was on the rise (2). For years, many biomedical researchers, their staff, and their families have been egregiously targeted by PETA and understandably are demoralized. It is shocking that Science would take the time and effort to highlight and chronicle the sentiments of someone whose sole mission is to derail biomedical research that is dependent on animal models.
LET TERS Edited by Jennifer Sills
Editorial retraction ON 27 JUNE 2014, Science published an
Editor-in-Chief REFERENCE
1. J. N. Brantley, K. M. Wiggins, C. W. Bielawski, Science 333, 1606 (2011).
PETA fuels animal lab improvements I READ D. GRIMM’S News Feature about
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA’s) campaigns to expose and end animal research (“The insurgent,” 23 January, p. 366) with interest. Since its inception in 1980, PETA has decried animal research based on its cruelty, as well as its inapplicability to human illnesses. Thirty-five years later, there is overwhelming scientific evidence showing how much animals suffer in labs, that the results generally fail to translate to people, and that alternatives are often more effective. This has helped move PETA’s criticism of animal research from the street, to the boardroom, to Capitol Hill, and even to AAAS’s own annual conference. In my work, the important shift we’ve seen from crude animal-based labs to sophisticated simulation for medical training has certainly been fueled in part by 834
National Association for Biomedical Research, Washington, DC 20005, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
animal welfare concerns from PETA and others. I applaud Science for giving voice to a group that deserves credit from the biomedical research community for its successful work to improve the lives of animals and push science forward. I look forward to a time when both community scientists and PETA researchers can share a collective conversation about the best ways to advance knowledge in a responsible manner. John Pawlowski Division of Thoracic Anesthesia, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA; and Principles of Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
PETA undermines science and scientists ON BEHALF OF THE National Association
for Biomedical Research and our more than 360 institutional members nationwide, I write to express concerns regarding the News Feature “The insurgent” (23 January, p. 366), in which D. Grimm profiled Justin Goodman of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The article devotes the majority of its space to what easily could be interpreted as an endorsement of Goodman and PETA. PETA is an organization that has long been publicly opposed to the use of animals in biomedical research. Goodman, a wellknown animal rights activist, has made clear his personal mission of vilifying research. An online article by PETA promoting Goodman’s actions refers to biomedical research facilities as “torture chambers” and notes that he has organized campaigns to end research with nonhuman primates, even going so far as to chain himself to an iron fence at the University of Connecticut’s 125th anniversary celebration in protest (1). Goodman and PETA were also permitted to present a poster at last year’s AAAS Annual Meeting in Chicago, where they cited data
REFERENCES
1. Peta2, Justin Goodman: Exposing the Torture Chamber (www.peta2.com/heroes/justin-goodman/). 2. EurekAlert,“New study shows growing opposition to animal tests” (www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-02/ pfte-nss021314.php).
Enforcement key to China’s environment ON 1 JANUARY 2015, China formally began
implementing its revised Environmental Protection Law (EPL). The new EPL offers some hope for sustainable development in China, but its potential may be limited if local governments continue to focus on the economy. Since the first EPL in 1989, China has become the largest emitter of carbon dioxide (1). After many calls for its revision (2), the new EPL, which was finalized in April 2014 (3), includes substantial amendments (4). Caps on penalties have been lifted, the “per day calculation” for pollution fines should increase punishments, and some NGOs will be able to bring lawsuits against polluters. An ecological “red line” will define areas requiring special protection from, for example, urban smog. The new EPL looks good on paper, but it remains to be seen how local environmental protection bureaus will use it. Local bureaus have often attempted to reconcile conflicting goals of economic development and environmental protection (5). The situation is exacerbated by overlapping responsibilities of local governments and the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Environmental responsibilities scattered across different ministries and agencies further weaken EPL enforcement (6). Application of environmental laws in rural, less developed areas has been much weaker than in cities (5). Because of protests by middle-class city dwellers, factories have relocated to rural middle and western China (7, 8), causing serious sciencemag.org SCIENCE
20 FEBRUARY 2015 • VOL 347 ISSUE 6224
Published by AAAS
Downloaded from www.sciencemag.org on February 21, 2015
Marcia McNutt
Frankie L. Trull
Targeting animal research, for better or worse.
PHOTO: © ZOO ATLANTA/SPLASH NEWS/CORBIS
Editorial Expression of Concern about the Report “Unclicking the click: Mechanically facilitated 1,3-dipolar cycloreversions” by J. N. Brantley et al. (1). After concerns were raised in an e-mail to the editors from a reader, the corresponding author supervised a comprehensive evaluation of all data presented in the original manuscript by tracing all figures back to their raw data files. In over 50% of the figure parts, the authors deemed the data unreliable due to uncertainty regarding the origin of data or the manner in which the data were processed. The University of Texas at Austin conducted a confidential investigation and shared the conclusion that scientific misconduct had occurred, but provided no further detail of the nature of the misconduct. After the conclusion of the investigation, authors Bielawski and Brantley volunteered to withdraw the paper; it has not been possible to contact author Wiggins. Science is therefore retracting the paper.
environmental degradation. This includes major water pollution within Inner Mongolia’s deserts (9). Strengthening EPL enforcement in these areas is essential to avoid the spread of contamination. The potential for environmental litigation is still limited. Only the largest NGOs will be able to initiate lawsuits, with only around 300 qualifying (10). Provisions for lawsuits against environmental enforcement authorities remain unclear. The Chinese Premier has declared “war on pollution.” The new EPL provides weapons for this war, but their effectiveness will depend on enforcement, particularly in China’s developing regions. Hong Yang,1* Xianjin Huang,2* Julian R. Thompson,3 Roger J. Flower3 1
CEES, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Blindern, 0316, Oslo, Norway. 2School of Geographic and Oceanographic Science, Xianlin Campus, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China. 3Wetland Research Unit/Environmental Change Research Centre, UCL Department of Geography, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK. *Corresponding authors. E-mail: hongyanghy@gmail. com (H.Y.); [email protected] (X.H.) REFERENCES
1. PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Trends in Global CO2 Emissions 2013 Report (2014); http:// edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/news_docs/pbl-2013-trends-inglobal-co2-emissions-2013-report-1148.pdf
2. G. Z. He, L. Zhang, A. P. J. Mol, Y. L. Lu, J. G. Liu, Science 341, 133 (2013). 3. H. Yang, Nature 509, 535 (2014). 4. The National People‘s Congress of the People‘s Republic of China, Environmental Protection Law of the People‘s Repulic of China (2014); www.npc.gov.cn/huiyi/lfzt/hjbhfxzaca/ 2014-04/25/content_1861320.htm [in Chinese]. 5. G. Kostka,“Barriers to the implementation of environmental policies at the local level in China,“ World Bank Policy Research Working Paper (World Bank, Berlin, 2014). 6. J. G. Liu, W. Yang, Science 337, 649 (2012). 7. H. Yang, R. J. Flower, J. R. Thompson, Nature 490, 342 (2012). 8. H. Yang, X. Huang, J. R. Thompson, R. J. Flower, Science 344, 691 (2014). 9. S. Huan, Water pollution in N. China desert kills thousands of birds (2014); www.ecns.cn/cns-wire/2014/09-12/134208. shtml. 10. J. Y. Hsu, Geogr. Compass 8, 98 (2014).
underwater cave in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. They propose that this ancient human individual’s mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) belongs to haplogroup D1. However, our analysis of postmortem damage patterns finds no evidence for an ancient origin of these sequences. Full text at http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/ science.1260617 Response to Comment on “Late Pleistocene human skeleton and mtDNA link Paleoamericans and modern Native Americans” Brian M. Kemp, John Lindo, Deborah A. Bolnick, Ripan S. Malhi, James C. Chatters
TECHNICAL COMMENT ABSTRACTS Comment on “Late Pleistocene human skeleton and mtDNA link Paleoamericans and modern Native Americans” Kay Prüfer and Matthias Meyer
Chatters et al. (Reports, 16 May 2014, p. 750) reported the retrieval of DNA sequences from a 12,000- to 13,000-yearold human tooth discovered in an
Published by AAAS
Prüfer and Meyer raise concerns over the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) results we reported for the Hoyo Negro individual, citing failure of a portion of these data to conform to their expectations of ancient DNA (aDNA). Because damage patterns in aDNA vary, outright rejection of our findings on this basis is unwarranted, especially in light of our other observations. Full text at http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/ science.1261188
that the number of Americans believing that ethical animal research is “morally wrong” was on the rise (2). For years, many biomedical researchers, their staff, and their families have been egregiously targeted by PETA and understandably are demoralized. It is shocking that Science would take the time and effort to highlight and chronicle the sentiments of someone whose sole mission is to derail biomedical research that is dependent on animal models.
LET TERS Edited by Jennifer Sills
Editorial retraction ON 27 JUNE 2014, Science published an
Editor-in-Chief REFERENCE
1. J. N. Brantley, K. M. Wiggins, C. W. Bielawski, Science 333, 1606 (2011).
PETA fuels animal lab improvements I READ D. GRIMM’S News Feature about
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA’s) campaigns to expose and end animal research (“The insurgent,” 23 January, p. 366) with interest. Since its inception in 1980, PETA has decried animal research based on its cruelty, as well as its inapplicability to human illnesses. Thirty-five years later, there is overwhelming scientific evidence showing how much animals suffer in labs, that the results generally fail to translate to people, and that alternatives are often more effective. This has helped move PETA’s criticism of animal research from the street, to the boardroom, to Capitol Hill, and even to AAAS’s own annual conference. In my work, the important shift we’ve seen from crude animal-based labs to sophisticated simulation for medical training has certainly been fueled in part by 834
National Association for Biomedical Research, Washington, DC 20005, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
animal welfare concerns from PETA and others. I applaud Science for giving voice to a group that deserves credit from the biomedical research community for its successful work to improve the lives of animals and push science forward. I look forward to a time when both community scientists and PETA researchers can share a collective conversation about the best ways to advance knowledge in a responsible manner. John Pawlowski Division of Thoracic Anesthesia, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA; and Principles of Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
PETA undermines science and scientists ON BEHALF OF THE National Association
for Biomedical Research and our more than 360 institutional members nationwide, I write to express concerns regarding the News Feature “The insurgent” (23 January, p. 366), in which D. Grimm profiled Justin Goodman of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The article devotes the majority of its space to what easily could be interpreted as an endorsement of Goodman and PETA. PETA is an organization that has long been publicly opposed to the use of animals in biomedical research. Goodman, a wellknown animal rights activist, has made clear his personal mission of vilifying research. An online article by PETA promoting Goodman’s actions refers to biomedical research facilities as “torture chambers” and notes that he has organized campaigns to end research with nonhuman primates, even going so far as to chain himself to an iron fence at the University of Connecticut’s 125th anniversary celebration in protest (1). Goodman and PETA were also permitted to present a poster at last year’s AAAS Annual Meeting in Chicago, where they cited data
REFERENCES
1. Peta2, Justin Goodman: Exposing the Torture Chamber (www.peta2.com/heroes/justin-goodman/). 2. EurekAlert,“New study shows growing opposition to animal tests” (www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-02/ pfte-nss021314.php).
Enforcement key to China’s environment ON 1 JANUARY 2015, China formally began
implementing its revised Environmental Protection Law (EPL). The new EPL offers some hope for sustainable development in China, but its potential may be limited if local governments continue to focus on the economy. Since the first EPL in 1989, China has become the largest emitter of carbon dioxide (1). After many calls for its revision (2), the new EPL, which was finalized in April 2014 (3), includes substantial amendments (4). Caps on penalties have been lifted, the “per day calculation” for pollution fines should increase punishments, and some NGOs will be able to bring lawsuits against polluters. An ecological “red line” will define areas requiring special protection from, for example, urban smog. The new EPL looks good on paper, but it remains to be seen how local environmental protection bureaus will use it. Local bureaus have often attempted to reconcile conflicting goals of economic development and environmental protection (5). The situation is exacerbated by overlapping responsibilities of local governments and the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Environmental responsibilities scattered across different ministries and agencies further weaken EPL enforcement (6). Application of environmental laws in rural, less developed areas has been much weaker than in cities (5). Because of protests by middle-class city dwellers, factories have relocated to rural middle and western China (7, 8), causing serious sciencemag.org SCIENCE
20 FEBRUARY 2015 • VOL 347 ISSUE 6224
Published by AAAS
Downloaded from www.sciencemag.org on February 21, 2015
Marcia McNutt
Frankie L. Trull
Targeting animal research, for better or worse.
PHOTO: © ZOO ATLANTA/SPLASH NEWS/CORBIS
Editorial Expression of Concern about the Report “Unclicking the click: Mechanically facilitated 1,3-dipolar cycloreversions” by J. N. Brantley et al. (1). After concerns were raised in an e-mail to the editors from a reader, the corresponding author supervised a comprehensive evaluation of all data presented in the original manuscript by tracing all figures back to their raw data files. In over 50% of the figure parts, the authors deemed the data unreliable due to uncertainty regarding the origin of data or the manner in which the data were processed. The University of Texas at Austin conducted a confidential investigation and shared the conclusion that scientific misconduct had occurred, but provided no further detail of the nature of the misconduct. After the conclusion of the investigation, authors Bielawski and Brantley volunteered to withdraw the paper; it has not been possible to contact author Wiggins. Science is therefore retracting the paper.
environmental degradation. This includes major water pollution within Inner Mongolia’s deserts (9). Strengthening EPL enforcement in these areas is essential to avoid the spread of contamination. The potential for environmental litigation is still limited. Only the largest NGOs will be able to initiate lawsuits, with only around 300 qualifying (10). Provisions for lawsuits against environmental enforcement authorities remain unclear. The Chinese Premier has declared “war on pollution.” The new EPL provides weapons for this war, but their effectiveness will depend on enforcement, particularly in China’s developing regions. Hong Yang,1* Xianjin Huang,2* Julian R. Thompson,3 Roger J. Flower3 1
CEES, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Blindern, 0316, Oslo, Norway. 2School of Geographic and Oceanographic Science, Xianlin Campus, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China. 3Wetland Research Unit/Environmental Change Research Centre, UCL Department of Geography, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK. *Corresponding authors. E-mail: hongyanghy@gmail. com (H.Y.); [email protected] (X.H.) REFERENCES
1. PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Trends in Global CO2 Emissions 2013 Report (2014); http:// edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/news_docs/pbl-2013-trends-inglobal-co2-emissions-2013-report-1148.pdf
2. G. Z. He, L. Zhang, A. P. J. Mol, Y. L. Lu, J. G. Liu, Science 341, 133 (2013). 3. H. Yang, Nature 509, 535 (2014). 4. The National People‘s Congress of the People‘s Republic of China, Environmental Protection Law of the People‘s Repulic of China (2014); www.npc.gov.cn/huiyi/lfzt/hjbhfxzaca/ 2014-04/25/content_1861320.htm [in Chinese]. 5. G. Kostka,“Barriers to the implementation of environmental policies at the local level in China,“ World Bank Policy Research Working Paper (World Bank, Berlin, 2014). 6. J. G. Liu, W. Yang, Science 337, 649 (2012). 7. H. Yang, R. J. Flower, J. R. Thompson, Nature 490, 342 (2012). 8. H. Yang, X. Huang, J. R. Thompson, R. J. Flower, Science 344, 691 (2014). 9. S. Huan, Water pollution in N. China desert kills thousands of birds (2014); www.ecns.cn/cns-wire/2014/09-12/134208. shtml. 10. J. Y. Hsu, Geogr. Compass 8, 98 (2014).
underwater cave in Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. They propose that this ancient human individual’s mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) belongs to haplogroup D1. However, our analysis of postmortem damage patterns finds no evidence for an ancient origin of these sequences. Full text at http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/ science.1260617 Response to Comment on “Late Pleistocene human skeleton and mtDNA link Paleoamericans and modern Native Americans” Brian M. Kemp, John Lindo, Deborah A. Bolnick, Ripan S. Malhi, James C. Chatters
TECHNICAL COMMENT ABSTRACTS Comment on “Late Pleistocene human skeleton and mtDNA link Paleoamericans and modern Native Americans” Kay Prüfer and Matthias Meyer
Chatters et al. (Reports, 16 May 2014, p. 750) reported the retrieval of DNA sequences from a 12,000- to 13,000-yearold human tooth discovered in an
Published by AAAS
Prüfer and Meyer raise concerns over the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) results we reported for the Hoyo Negro individual, citing failure of a portion of these data to conform to their expectations of ancient DNA (aDNA). Because damage patterns in aDNA vary, outright rejection of our findings on this basis is unwarranted, especially in light of our other observations. Full text at http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/ science.1261188
