Sir

In your article about the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) inquiry (Nature 392, 532–533; 1998), you comment on my view, expressed in 1991, that “the problem was so big that it needed a coordinator to take hold of the whole thing”. You have, however, missed the essential point I was making, that the problem required a full-time coordinator.

As I expressed in a letter to Keith Meldrum, the Chief Veterinary Officer at that time, part of which you include in your article, I felt it was expecting too much of a group of people (the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee headed by David Tyrrell) meeting every two months or so to coordinate the work on BSE.

At no time was I critical of Tyrrell, who I consider did an excellent job. Seven years later, I still hold the view that the appointment of a full-time coordinator, who really knew about spongiform encephalopathies, would have been valuable.