<nettime> Scientist 'killed Amazon indians to test race theory'

[David Mandl <dmandl@panix.com>]

Scientist 'killed Amazon indians to test race theory'

Geneticist accused of letting thousands die in rainforest

Paul Brown, Environment correspondent
Saturday September 23, 2000
The Guardian

Thousands of South American indians were infected with measles,
killing hundreds, in order to for US scientists to study the effects
on primitive societies of natural selection, according to a book out
next month.

The astonishing story of genetic research on humans, which took 10
years to uncover, is likely to shake the world of anthropology to its
core, according to Professor Terry Turner of Cornell University, who
has read the proofs.

"In its scale, ramifications, and sheer criminality and corruption it
is unparalleled in the history of anthropology," Prof Turner says in a
warning letter to Louise Lamphere, the president of the American
Anthropology Association (AAA).

The book accuses James Neel, the geneticist who headed a long-term
project to study the Yanomami people of Venezuela in the mid-60s, of
using a virulent measles vaccine to spark off an epidemic which killed
hundreds and probably thousands.

Once the epidemic was under way, according to the book, the research
team "refused to provide any medical assistance to the sick and dying
Yanomami, on explicit order from Neel. He insisted to his colleagues
that they were only there to observe and record the epidemic, and that
they must stick strictly to their roles as scientists, not provide
medical help".

The book, Darkness in El Dorado by the investigative journalist
Patrick Tierney, is due to be published on October 1. Prof Turner,
whose letter was co-signed by fellow anthropologist Leslie Sponsel of
the University of Hawaii, was trying to warn the AAA of the impending
scandal so the profession could defend itself.

Although Neel died last February, many of his associates, some of them
authors of classic anthropology texts, are still alive.

The accusations will be the main focus of the AAA's AGM in November,
when the surviving scientists have been invited to defend their
work. None have commented publicly, but they are asking colleagues to
come to their defence.

One of the most controversial aspects of the research which allegedly
culminated in the epidemic is that it was funded by the US atomic
energy commission, which was anxious to discover what might happen to
communities when large numbers were wiped out by nuclear war.

While there is no "smoking gun" in the form of texts or recorded
speeches by Neel explaining his conduct, Prof Turner believes the only
explanation is that he was trying to test controversial eugenic
theories like the Nazi scientist Josef Mengele.

He quotes another anthropologist who read the manuscript as saying:
"Mr.  Tierney's analysis is a case study of the dangers in science of
the uncontrolled ego, of lack of respect for life, and of greed and
self-indulgence. It is a further extraordinary revelation of malicious
and perverted work conducted under the aegis of the atomic energy
commission."

Prof Turner says Neel and his group used a virulent vaccine called
Edmonson B on the Yanomani, which was known to produce symptoms
virtually indistinguishable from cases of measles.

"Medical experts, when informed that Neel and his group used the
vaccine in question on the Yanomami, typically refuse to believe it at
first, then say that it is incredible that they could have done it,
and are at a loss to explain why they would have chosen such an
inappropriate and dangerous vaccine," he writes.

"There is no record that Neel sought any medical advice before
applying the vaccine. He never informed the appropriate organs of the
Venezuelan government that his group was planning to carry out a
vaccination campaign, as he was legally required to do.

Fatalities

"Neither he nor any other member of the expedition has ever explained
why that vaccine was used, despite the evidence that it actually
caused or, at a minimum, greatly exacerbated the fatal epidemic."

Prof Turner says that Neel held the view that "natural" human society,
as seen before the advent of large-scale agriculture, consists of
small, genetically isolated groups in which dominant genes -
specifically a gene he believed existed for "leadership" or "innate
ability" - have a selective advantage.

In such an environment, male carriers of this gene would gain access
to a disproportionate number of females, reproducing their genes more
frequently than less "innately able" males. The result would
supposedly be a continual upgrading of the human genetic stock.

He says Neel believed that in modern societies "superior leadership
genes would be swamped by mass genetic mediocrity".

"The political implication of this fascistic eugenics is clearly that
society should be reorganised into small breeding isolates in which
genetically superior males could emerge into dominance, eliminating or
subordinating the male losers in the competition for leadership and
women, and amassing harems of brood females." Prof Turner adds.

In the memo he says: "One of Tierney's more startling revelations is
that the whole Yanomami project was an outgrowth and continuation of
the atomic energy commission's secret programme of experiments on
human subjects.

"Neel, the originator of the project, was part of the medical and
genetic research team attached to the atomic energy commission since
the days of the Manhattan Project."

James Neel was well-known for his research into the effects of
radiation on human subjects and personally headed the team that
investigated the effects of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs on
survivors and their children.

According to Prof Turner, the same group also secretly carried out
experiments on human subjects in the US. These included injecting
people with radioactive plutonium without their knowledge or
permission.

Nightmarish

"This nightmarish story - a real anthropological heart of darkness
beyond the imagining of even a Joseph Conrad (though not, perhaps, a
Josef Mengele) - will be seen (rightly in our view) by the public, as
well as most anthropologists, as putting the whole discipline on
trial," he says.

"This book should... cause the field to understand how the corrupt and
depraved protagonists could have spread their poison for so long while
they were accorded great respect throughout the western world... This
should never be allowed to happen again."

Yesterday Professor Turner told the Guardian it was unfortunate that
the confidential memo had been leaked, but it had accomplished its
original purpose in getting a full response from the AAA.

A public forum would be held at its AGM in November to discuss the
book its revelations and courses of action.

In a statement yesterday the association said "The AAA is extremely
concerned about these allegations. If proven true they would
constitute a serious violation of Yanomami human rights and our code
of ethics. Until there is a full and impartial review and discussion
of the issues raised in the book, it would be unfair to express a
judgment about the specific allegations against individuals that are
contained in it.

"The association is anticipating conducting an open forum during our
annual meeting to provide an opportunity for our members to review and
discuss the issues and allegations raised in the book."

                 © Copyright Guardian Media Group plc. 2000

--
Dave Mandl
dmandl@panix.com
davem@wfmu.org
http://www.wfmu.org/~davem

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