An18th-centurystatesmanEdmundBurkeoncesaid,“Allthatisneededforthesuccessofamisguidedcauseisthatgoodpeopledonothing.”Onesuchcausenowseekstoendbiomedicalresearchbecauseofthetheorythatanimalshaverightstodecidewhethertobeusedinresearch.Scientistsneedtorespondforcefullytoanimalrightsadvocates,whoseargumentsarepuzzlingthepublicandthreateningadvancesinhealthknowledgeandcare.Leadersoftheanimalrightsmovementattackbiomedicalresearchbecauseitdependsonpublicfunding,andfewpeopleunderstandtheprocessofhealthcareresearch.Hearingfalsereportsofcrueltytoanimalsinresearchsettings,manyarepuzzledthatanyonewouldharmananimalonpurpose.

Forexample,agrandmotherlywomansettingupananimalrightsboothatarecentstreetfairwasgivingoutsheetsthatencouragedreadersnottouseanythingthatcomesfromoristestedinanimals－nomeat,nofur,nomedicines.Askedwhatwillhappenwhenepidemics(传染病)return,shesaid.“Don’tworry,scientistswillfindsomewayofusingcomputers.”Suchwell-meaningpeoplejustdon’tunderstand.

Scientistsmustcommunicatetheirmessagetothepublicinanunderstandableway－inhumanterms,notinthelanguageofbiology.Weneedtomakecleartheconnectionbetweenanimalresearchandagrandmother’sorganreplacement,afather’sbypassoperation,ababy’svaccinations(接种疫苗),andevenapet’sshots.Tothosewhoknownothingabouttheanimalresearchthatwasneededtoproducethesetreatments,aswellasnewtreatmentsandvaccines,animalresearchseemswastefulatbestandcruelatworst.

Muchcanbedone.Scientistscouldgivemiddleschoollessonsandpresenttheirownresearch.Theyshouldbequicktorespondtoletterstotheeditor,incaseanimalrightsmisinformationgoesunchallengedandgainsafalseappearanceoftruth.Researchinstitutionscouldbeopenedtotours,toshowthatlaboratoryanimalsreceivehumanecare.Finally,becausetherearealotofpatients,thehealthresearchcommunityshouldactivelyrecruit(招募)notonlywell-knownpersonalitiessuchasStephenCooper,whohasmadecourageousstatementsaboutthevalueofanimalresearch,butallwhoreceivemedicaltreatment.Ifgoodpeopledonothing,thereisarealpossibilityt