Colin Blakemore

Colin Blakemore's boundless energy—physical and intellectual—is quite fitting in a man who has run 18 marathons. His preference to be addressed as Colin (no honorifics please!) is in keeping with his quiet and unassuming manner, which is all the more impressive in a man who has created the equivalent of two parallel careers—one in neuroscience and the other in science communication. Blakemore got off to an exceptionally early and impressive start in both vocations—he completed his PhD in less than 30 months—and he achieved great success while still in his 30s. In 1976, he delivered the Reith Lectures for the BBC, and in 1979, he accepted the Waynflete chair of physiology at Oxford University—both the sorts of honors given to those 20 years his senior. He directs the Medical Research Council Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience. Currently, Blakemore is chairman of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (he was its president, 1997-1998,) and president of the Physiological Society. A long line of broadcasting appearances, along with his books and articles for the general public, have earned him a description by the Royal Society as "one of Britain's most influential communicators of science." For this role, The society presented Blakemore with its Michael Faraday award in 1989. Quite consistent with a man who runs marathons is Blakemore's absolute determination and staying power. He pursues what he sees as morally right and morally required. For more than a decade, he's been the focal point of the rage of extremists in the animal rights movement in Britain, and he says he's had to face a stark choice "between the crucial importance of scientific research and the safety of my family." Neuroscientist professor Richard Morris says that scientist Blakemore made pioneering discoveries about the ways connections between nerve cells are fine-tuned as a result of early experience. He also made "very shrewd use of cell culture techniques to conduct exacting analytical experiments on the connections between eye and brain—in particular on the handshaking between the thalamus and the cortex." As to communicator Blakemore, Morris notes that "Colin always has a new twist in his public lectures that causes even a hardened expert to think again." Professor Nancy Rothwell, another admiring colleague, says that Blakemore is "best known for his research on the influence of visual experience on the brain soon after birth, on the causes of common forms of blindness in children, and on prenatal development of the brain." Pursuit of this research is what attracted the attention of the animal rights campaigners. Blakemore was conducting research on cats to learn what changes occurred in the brain as a result of visual disturbances early in life. He had to sew their eyelids shut—precisely the technique that is used on babies with eye injuries. He later recorded with microelectrodes from nerve cells in the visual parts of the brain to assess the effects of the early disturbance of vision. The animals were anaesthetized at the beginning of the experiment and did not suffer. Blakemore believes that "research on animals is evil, but a necessary evil if it is balanced against the benefits that accrue." Initially he was the target of an orchestrated campaign limited to organized parades, pamphlets, letters, press releases, and articles in tabloids with doctored photographs. But then came the threats. Everyone around him was affected—from his secretary to his neighbors—but most worryingly, his family. Bombs were delivered to his home, his daughters were threatened with kidnap. And the terrorism continued for years. Blakemore never ceased to believe in the possibility of rational discussion, of dialogue. He felt and still feels that if people knew the facts about animal research—if they could get their questions answered—all but the most extreme opponents could be convinced of its necessity. He answered every letter as long as it had a return address. He came out of his house on Christmas Day and on Easter Sunday to talk to demonstrators for hours. And he was instrumental in setting up an institutional framework for dialogue, a committee called the Boyd Group, chaired by theologian/ethicist Kenneth Boyd. "Colin Blakemore ... has worked tirelessly to promote public understanding of science and in particular of the need to use animals in biomedical research. His willingness to debate openly, with even his most hardened opponents, and to sit down and reason together with people of all views on the subject has raised public awareness of the issues and thereby significantly helped to create greater recognition of the urgent need to improve the welfare of laboratory animals and to implement the imperatives of reduction, refinement, and replacement," says Boyd. In 1997, Blakemore became chief executive of the European Dana Alliance for the Brain and, in that capacity is seeking to shape public dialogue on science in England through a new initiative, the Dana Centre, to be housed at the Science Museum. Science Museum director Lindsay Sharp, who describes Blakemore as "one of those very rare people who is both a superb scientist and a first-rate science communicator," expects the Dana Centre to be a national forum for dialogue between the public and the scientific community. Meanwhile, the neuroscientist is filled with enthusiasm about his research, as much excited about his latest paper accepted by Nature as by his newly published popular book, The Oxford Companion to the Body. Blakemore likens neuroscience to 16th century physics in its state of development: "We are seeing a new science being born in an era of incredible technological sophistication. There is a flood of fascinating data, but in its conceptual framework, neuroscience is still quite primitive. We are reliving a little of the sense of Renaissance science." Arlene Judith Klotzko is a contributing editor.

Colin Blakemore

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