The Nonsense! of FIAT and The Ex

FOREST Industries of Tasmania Association was quick to capitalise on the misreporting in The Examiner newspaper on Thursday 2 February. The front-page head lines read: ‘Devil tumour cause found – Cancer not result of virus or environment’.

FIAT’s press releases said:

‘Recent announcements about the transmission of devil facial tumour disease (DFT) through physical contact between devils confirms the forest industry position that it has been unfairly targeted as the cause of the disease.

Scientific research demonstrates that devils do not contract DFT by exposure to chemicals widely used in forestry and agriculture but through physical interaction between devils themselves.

Forest Industries Association of Tasmania, Manager of Technical Services Katy Hobbs, said the industry had been unfairly accused of responsibility in the spread of DFT, this has now been totally rejected.’

Nonsense!

This manipulation of new research findings on the devil facial tumour disease highlights yet again how science can be manipulated.

Both The Examiner and the FIAT press release sought to distort the findings of Anne-Maree Pearse and Kate Swift’s cytogenetic studies. Their research shows the devil facial cancer may spread from devil to devil through biting. Their one-page Nature article explained a possible means of transmission, nothing more. It did not prove anything about the likely cause or the trigger to this disease.

Indeed Mrs Pearse had told The Australian newspaper, after this paper had been submitted to Nature that, “… it’s very likely: that in the first instance, the devil was for some reason or other exposed to a carcinogenic chemical. Take your pick. Organophosphates can cause genetic damage.”

And Wildlife Biologist, Nick Mooney went further. “That is the likely scenario — that there isn’t ‘a’ chemical to blame, it’s more likely a group of chemicals such as organophosphates, and if that’s the case it will produce a very interesting public debate with some serious repercussions.”

Indeed … perhaps even for the scientists who speak their truth also!

So why did The Examiner get this story wrong? Why didn’t the Government Media Liaison Office or the DPIWE correct this headline reporting?

Statements made ‘on the record’ and ‘off the record’ are critical to having the story correctly reported. Who is allowed to make public comment is also of importance.

The early public statements of the non-scientist leader of the DFTD team made on the ABC, probably went a long way to muddy the waters.

“The possibility of transmission through a virus or through airborne vector and those sort of things we have had on the table, but this [the tumour cell transfer] very much puts the focus on to the physical transmission with the cancer being transmitted from devil to devil,” Alistair Scott said.

The most recent information from DPIWE that I have states that, ‘it is still too soon to dismiss a viral aetiology.’

On 7 February 2006, the federal Minister for the Environment, Senator Ian Campbell was more candid.

“While a recent breakthrough has discovered that the cancer is spread by devils biting each other, we still don’t know its cause.”

Interference and manipulation of this type is unacceptable and unhelpful. Political scientists and minders must let science do this work without fear or favour.