Published: March 12, 2023
Not long ago, a writer for Wired Magazine named Elizabeth Svoboda contacted me to let me (Tom Horn) know she was writing an article about “research advances using transgenic animals to produce pharmaceutical compounds.” She had come across an editorial by me raising caution about this kind of experimentation, and wondered if I might be willing to provide points for her article, elaborating areas where I saw producing transgenic animals as potentially harmful. She stated that most of the scientists she planned to quote were “pretty gung-ho about the practice,” and thought it would be important to provide some balance. I thanked her for the invitation, and sent a short summary of some, though not all, of the areas where concerns about this science could be raised.
When the article was finally published by the magazine, I was surprised that none of my notes had made it into the story. I contacted Elizabeth and asked why, and she replied, “Unfortunately, my editors cut your quotes during the editing process, which were originally included in my article, ‘Pharm Animals Crank Out Drugs.’” She apologized and said she hoped the experience had not soured me on dealing with Wired Magazine.
“It doesn’t sour me,” I assured her. “I just think the reporting by most agencies is lopsided and missing the opportunity to thoroughly engage such an important issue.”
The article was mostly positive on transgenic research and concluded with a scientist by the name of Marie Cecile Van de Lavoir saying that potential human health benefits from transgenic research “justify tinkering” with nature’s plan. “If a transgenic animal produces a great cancer therapy,” she said, “I won’t hear anyone saying, ‘You shouldn’t do that.’”
Van de Lavoir’s comments were undoubtedly in response to some of my observations before they were cut, because in offering caution I had specifically used the phrase “tinkering with nature’s plan.” Van de Lavoir’s short-sighted approach, like that of many bioethicists engaged in the current debate, is as scary as the science, in my opinion. I wanted to contact her to suggest that she watch the film I Am Legend, which opens appropriately enough with a scientist announcing the cure to cancer using a genetically engineered virus that blends animal and human genetics. If you’ve seen the film, you know the “cure” results in a human form of rabies that wipes out most life on earth, a real possibility given the scenario.
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