Black-masked attackers disrupting a child’s birthday party. A firebomb left on a doorstep. In the last six months, biomedical researchers have faced these terrifying attacks and more, with shadowy animal rights groups proudly claiming responsibility.
Despite being highly regulated, peer-reviewed, crucial to public health and legal, vital research is increasingly under violent attack by activists using illegal means. It is time for the science, academic and health communities to say “enough” and do something about it. No researcher should experience the trauma of this kind of attack alone, or shoulder the responsibility of trying to address it without support.
Overall, members of the Society for Neuroscience, whose Committee on Animals in Research that I chair, reported more incidents involving harassment or violence in the first six months of 2007 than from 1999 through 2003. Not only have these attacks become more frequent, they have become more violent. The painting of glass-eating acid onto a researcher’s home, home bombings, attempted home invasion, attempted car bombings and the flooding of a researcher’s home have caused thousands of dollars in damage.
This trend will continue unabated unless research institutions, governments, national funding agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, and the science community unite to defend responsible biomedical research and implement policies to address these threats. With reasonable legal discourse descending to illegal violence and threat, universities can no longer afford to ignore actions that impose danger to their faculty. By taking steps to prepare, pre-empt and respond effectively to anti-research activists, they can support the progress of scientific research, as well as the health and economic well-being of the nation.
Funding agencies, like the National Institutes of Health, are making important statements, but they should be encouraged to take an even stronger role in expecting universities to protect NIH-funded researchers.
Unfortunately, these incidents do not just scare their targets.
One of our members was forced to give up his research out of fear for the safety of his family. Not only did we lose a talented and dedicated scientist in the neuroscience field, but also the potential breakthroughs his research could have brought to people seeking better treatments for vision loss. As someone who conducts research, including using animal models, I and legions of researchers empathized deeply with the personally and professionally demoralizing choice this researcher was forced to make — it is far too understandable for those of us who seek to balance our passion for research, our commitment to identify possible treatments and our obligations to the safety and well-being of our families and colleagues.
The responsible use of animals in research has been vital for progress and insights that are improving life and offering real hope to millions of people worldwide suffering from neurological and psychiatric disorders. These include Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases; traumatic brain injury; vision or hearing loss; developmental disability; depression and addiction; and numerous others. With more than $20 billion in NIH-funded research at more than 3,400 institutions nationwide, the United States faces substantial economic consequences due to lost research, and more significantly, faces a loss in critical health advances. Without a safe and secure environment to perform this research, we risk missing out on these discoveries.
Once all researchers feel safe in pursuing their research, then we all truly do win.
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Jeffrey Kordower is a neurological sciences professor at Rush University and chair of the Committee on Animals in Research of the Society of Neuroscience.
