World without Cats Read Online Free

I’m quite familiar with your research, and I support it totally. So I think we should arrange an open meeting with students and faculty to address the issue of animal experimentation. I want you to explain to everyone why your work is important and why you need to use cats. Those students have the right to protest your research, but you have an equal right to defend it.”
    Noah stood there a moment, saying nothing. He resented that he’d have to defend himself to a bunch of students who were ignorant of the value of scientific investigation.
     
    Stanaland had arranged a meeting with the protesters for a Friday afternoon. Noah entered the lecture hall fifteen minutes early and was surprised to see that the room was already half full. A few days earlier, Anneke Weiss had written an inflammatory article in the campus newspaper attacking not only the use of cats for research but gene-cloning as well. She had suggested a multitude of horrors that might result from the kind of work that Noah and Gary were engaged in. The next day, the article had been reprinted verbatim in the local newspaper. That accounts for the crowd, Noah thought. My God, this room holds two hundred people. It’s going to fill up.
    A large table had been placed at the front of the room. Noah nodded to Dr. Stanaland, who was already seated. At the same table, Noah identified Anneke Weiss, along with Andrea Vernon, the university’s biological safety officer, and Sanjay Krishnamurti, the campus veterinarian. Noah sat down at the table and looked around the hall. He spied Gary in the third row, holding one of their research cats, an orange male named George.
    After Stanaland introduced him, Noah made his way to the microphone. There was scattered booing and a few shouts of, “No animal research!”
    Noah slowly examined his audience. “Thank you, Dr. Stanaland. I am grateful for this opportunity to explain my work to the students and faculty of CSUCI and to citizens of Camarillo.
    “First, let me assure you that recombinant DNA research has been carried out for over a quarter of a century without any problems.” Noah glanced at an outline he had prepared.
    “Get to the point!” shouted a voice from the audience.
    Momentarily stunned by the outcry, Noah reddened.
    Stanaland stood. He looked right at the offender and announced, “I must ask that you respect Dr. Chamberlin’s right to speak. If there are further disruptions, in the interest of civility, I will have those responsible removed from the room.” Aside from some isolated booing, the hall was quiet.
    Noah regained his composure. “Do you realize that everybody here has recombinant DNA in his chromosomes at this very moment?” As Noah had expected, there were exclamations of disbelief. “Evolution of life on earth depends on it. That’s right,” he continued, “genetic recombination is a normal process occurring in all sexual species. It’s simply the exchange of genes between the chromosomes of a pair; in animals this takes place when sperm and eggs are formed.”
    When Noah mentioned “sperm and eggs,” he noticed a little blond girl in a light-blue pinafore being hustled out of the hall by a stern-faced woman. A low current of laughter followed. Noah stared, open-mouthed. Unbelievable!
    “Uh, where—oh yes. Although DNA recombination is a natural process,” Noah went on pedantically, “we can also do it in the laboratory.” At this, the hall was again filled with laughter, but it took Noah a moment to get the joke. Disgusted, he shook his head. Damn! This is turning into a circus. “What I mean,” he explained after the last titter had faded, “is that chemically we can fuse different kinds of DNA. We can even take a piece of DNA from one species and attach it to a chromosome from another species.” The hall became suddenly quiet, but for the muted hiss of the air-conditioning.
    Noah motioned to Gary, who came forward and handed over his furry charge. This brought forth a