10.Good people do nothing

To paraphrase重复表述、借用……的话 18th-century statesman政治家 Edmund Burke, “all that is needed for the triumph胜利 of a misguided误导的 cause事业 is that good people do nothing.”One such cause now seeks to end biomedical生物医学 research研究 because of the theory理论上 that animals have rights权利 ruling out排除 their use in research. Scientists need to respond forcefully强有力地 to animal rights advocates倡导者, whose arguments参数、观点 are confusing混乱 the public and thereby从而 threatening威胁 advances进步 in health knowledge and care护理. Leaders of the animal rights权利 movement运动 target目标 biomedical生物医学 research because it depends on public funding资金, and few people understand the process过程 of health care research. Hearing allegations指控 of cruelty残忍 to animals in research settings, many are perplexed困惑 that anyone would deliberately故意 harm伤害 an animal.

For example, a grandmotherly woman staffing人手 an animal rights booth摊位 at a recent street fair was distributing分布 a brochure小册子 that encouraged鼓励 readers not to use anything that comes from or is tested in animals—no meat, no fur皮毛, no medicines药物. Asked if she opposed反对 immunizations接种疫苗, she wanted to know if vaccines疫苗 come from animal research. When assured被问及 that they do, she replied, “Then I would have to say yes.”Asked what will happen when epidemics传染病 return, she said, “Don’t worry, scientists will find some way of using computers.”Such well-meaning好心人 people just don’t understand.

Scientists must communicate their message to the public in a compassionate有同情心的, understandable way—in human terms语言, not in the language of molecular分子的 biology生物学. We need to make clear the connection between animal research and a grandmother’s hip髋关节 replacement置换, a father’s bypass搭桥 operation手术, a baby’s vaccinations疫苗接种, and even a pet’s shots镜头. To those who are unaware that animal research was needed to produce产生 these treatments治疗方法, as well as new treatments and vaccines疫苗, animal research seems wasteful浪费 at best and cruel at worst残忍.

Much can be done. Scientists could“adopt采用”middle school classes and present展示 their own research. They should be quick to respond to letters to the editor, lest以免 animal rights misinformation错误信息 go unchallenged无人挑战的 and acquire获得 a deceptive欺骗的 appearance表象 of truth. Research institutions机构 could be opened to tours参观, to show that laboratory实验室 animals receive humane人道主义 care. Finally, because the ultimate最终的 stakeholders利益相关者 are patients患者, the health research community should actively recruit招募 to its cause not only well-known personalities个性特征 such as Stephen Cooper, who has made courageous勇敢的 statements陈述 about the value of animal research, but all who receive medical treatment治疗. If good people do nothing there is a real possibility that an uninformed不了解 citizenry公民 will extinguish熄灭 the precious珍贵的 embers余烬 of medical医学 progress.

借用18世纪政治家埃德蒙·伯克（Edmund Burke）的一句话，“被误导的事业要想取得胜利，只需要好人什么都不做。”现在，其中一项事业试图终止生物医学研究，因为理论上动物有权利排除在研究中使用它们。科学家需要对动物权利倡导者做出强有力的回应，他们的观点让公众感到困惑，从而威胁到健康知识和护理的进步。动物权利运动的领导者将生物医学研究作为目标，因为它依赖于公共资金，而很少有人了解医疗保健研究的过程。听到在研究环境中虐待动物的指控，许多人感到困惑的是，有人会故意伤害动物。

例如，在最近的一次街头集市上，一位在动物权利摊位工作的老奶奶正在分发一本小册子，鼓励读者不要使用任何来自动物或在动物身上测试过的东西——没有肉，没有毛皮，没有药物。当被问及她是否反对免疫接种时，她想知道疫苗是否来自动物研究。当被问及传染病卷土重来时会发生什么时，她说：“别担心，科学家会找到使用计算机的方法的。”这些好心的人就是不明白。

科学家必须以一种富有同情心的、可理解的方式向公众传达他们的信息——用人类的语言，而不是用分子生物学的语言。我们需要弄清楚动物研究与祖母的髋关节置换、父亲的搭桥手术、婴儿的疫苗接种，甚至宠物的疫苗注射之间的联系。对于那些不知道需要动物研究来产生这些治疗方法以及新的治疗方法和疫苗的人来说，动物研究往好了说是浪费，往坏了说是残忍。

可以做很多事情。科学家可以“采用”中学课堂，展示他们自己的研究成果。他们应该迅速回复给编辑的信，以免动物权利的错误信息不受质疑，并获得真相的欺骗性表象。研究机构可以开放参观，以显示实验室动物受到人道关怀。最后，由于最终的利益相关者是患者，卫生研究界不仅应该积极招募斯蒂芬·库珀（Stephen Cooper）等知名人士（他对动物研究的价值发表了勇敢的言论），还应该积极招募所有接受治疗的人。如果好人什么都不做，那么不知情的公民很有可能会熄灭医学进步的宝贵余烬。