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.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brown, F. BSE coordinator should have been full-time job. Nature 393, 206 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/30338
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/30338