Letter: Scientific origins of 'genetic pornography'

Lewis Wolpert complains of "genetic pornography" (Hypotheses, Review, 12 May) but does not stop to consider who the pornographers might be. In the case he cites of the mouse with a human ear-shaped piece of tissue on its back, it is surely the scientists themselves who are to blame.

It is curious that while Wolpert celebrates the "clinical geneticists" who work on the blood disease thalassemia, he manages to phrase the mouse anecdote in such a way that one might believe no people were responsible for this tasteless and scientifically worthless publicity stunt.

Hugh Aldersey-Williams

London N19