Letter: Science satirised

Sir: Colin Blakemore (letter, 25 March) vents his spleen (regarding William Hartston's column 'Ivory Towers' (24 March)) and requests that scientific papers are not further vilified in your newspaper. The value of satire seems to have escaped him. Surely he does not confuse Miles Kington's column, or a Heath cartoon, with the leading articles?

The professor, and scientific researchers in general, have received far more damaging and misguided attacks than the one from your correspondent. Indeed, your 24 March issue proclaimed the discovery of the locus of the gene for Huntington's chorea, and went on to discuss the ethical dilemmas created by screening. As newspapers serve as a vehicle of information, having a much larger readership than any scientific journal, the professor is wrong to censure them.

Yours faithfully,

LEON MENEZES

London, SW16

25 March