Blakemore was beaten, his home was vandalized, and massive demonstrations against him at one point brought out 200 police in riot gear. He still makes no public move without a police escort. Activists have closed animal suppliers, won minor legislative victories, such as a rule banning alcohol or tobacco testing on animals, and created an uneasy climate for research. Then there is the human impact. There's a withering of that branch of science.
Graduate students are nervous.
Who knows how many people don't go into science because of it. Moreover, Bianco sees a changing culture ending open access to research as thousands are being spent on key cards, additional cameras and lighting, and faculty education. The Federal Bureau of Investigation refuses to discuss active domestic terrorism cases but hints that, despite few arrests, it takes recent events seriously. But it is also incumbent on mainstream animal-rights groups to disavow illegal activities, insists Christopher Coe, director of the Harlow Center for Biological Psychology. Instead the head of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals suggested in recent news interviews that scientists deserve to be targets of violence.