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Colin Blakemore is a British neurobiologist specializing in vision, and chief executive of the British Medical Research Council (MRC). He is best known to the public as the target of a long-running animal-rights campaign. According to The Observer, he is both "one of the most powerful scientists in the " and "regarded by many animal activists as the country's key hate figure."

Blakemore came to the attention of the animal rights movement while at Oxford University in the 1980s, when he carried out research into amblyopia and strabismus, conducting experiments that involved sewing kittens' eyes shut from birth.

Since then, according to The Observer, he and his family have "endured assaults by masked terrorists, bombs sent to his children, letters laced with razor blades, a suicide bid by his wife, and more than a decade of attacks and abuse."

Background and research interests

Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, he was educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry and then won a state scholarship to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge where he gained a first-class degree in medical sciences, then completed his doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley, USA as a Harkness fellow. He returned to Cambridge to undertake post-doctoral research, before moving to the University of Oxford where he became Waynflete Professor of Physiology at the age of 35.

His research has focused on vision, the early development of the brain and, more recently, conditions like Huntington's and Alzheimer's disease. He has published over 220 scientific papers and a number of books on these subjects.

He was director of the MRC Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience for eight years and, in 1989, was awarded the Royal Society's Michael Faraday Prize for excellence in communicating science to UK audiences. He has also served as president of the Biosciences Federation, British Neuroscience Association, the Physiological Society, and president and chairman of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2003, he succeeded Professor Sir George Radda as the head of the Medical Research Council, a national organisation that supports medical science with an annual budget of almost £500 million.

Animal testing and animal rights

He is outspoken in his support of the use of animal testing in medical research, though he has also publicly denounced fox hunting and animal testing for cosmetics.

In 1998, during the 68-day hunger strike of British animal-rights activist Barry Horne, Blakemore's life was threatened in a statement released by Robin Webb of the Animal Liberation Press Office on behalf of the Animal Rights Militia. Direct action against him has abated somewhat since the prosecution of Cynthia O'Neill for harassing him in 2000.

Soon after Blakemore's appointment to the MRC, The Sunday Times published a leaked British Cabinet Office document that suggested he was deemed unsuitable for inclusion in the 2004 New Year's Honours List because of his research on animals - research considered "controversial" by a British government committee that oversees matters of science and technology but widely supported by political leaders and the public. In response, he threatened to resign, suggesting in interviews that his position as chief executive was now untenable:

It's a matter of principle. The mission statement of the MRC is explicit. There's a specific commitment to talk to the public about issues in medical research. How can I now go to our scientists, and ask them to risk talking about animal research, when there now appears to be evidence that in secret the government disapproves it, even though in public they've strongly encouraged it?

Amid press speculation that pressure from Charles, Prince of Wales led to Blakemore's rejection — according to The Observer, Blakemore was told he could not attend a royal opening of the Oxford University Centre for Schizophrenia Research, because the Prince of Wales would not shake hands with a vivisectionist — a parliamentary inquiry implicated the Science and Technology Committee chaired by Sir Richard Mottram. After expressions of support for animal experimentation from Prime Minister Tony Blair, Chief Scientific Adviser David King, Minister for Science Lord Sainsbury, and the wider scientific community, Blakemore withdrew his intention to resign. As of 2006, he is the only MRC chief executive unrecognised in the British honours system.

References

• Fleet, Michael and Davies, Caroline. "Animal rights woman must keep away from don's home". The Daily Telegraph, February 24, 2000
• Leppard, David and Winnett, Robert. "Cursing mandarin in knighthood row". The Sunday Times, February 15, 2004
• McKie, Robin. "Scientist who stood up to terrorism and mob hate faces his toughest test". The Observer, September 14, 2003
• McKie, Robin. "Snubbed honours scientist 'to quit'". The Observer, December 21, 2003
• Select Committee on Public Administration, Minutes of Evidence. Examination of Witness (Questions 608-639). April 29, 2004

Further reading

• The Next Big Thing - 11 freeview video science discussion programmes chaired by Colin Blakemore produced by the BBC and the Vega Science Trust

• British neuroscientists