Madam, – Michael Viney delivered a fine defence of toads, etc (“Here’s what biodiversity has done for us” Another Life, Weekend Review, April 4th).
Those benighted folk who suggest we should champion motorways over biodiversity and ridicule the Government and EU for using public funds for “counting toads” should open their eyes to nature’s wellspring. A great variety of molecules initially discovered in toad skin have been subsequently demonstrated to be fundamental mediators of human brain functions. Among these, serotonin, the identification of which represented a milestone in human neuroscience opening the way to pharmacological treatment of depression.
For researchers in the field of human health, every living species is a potential source of precious information: the mysteries of genetics have been revealed by fruit flies, previously unidentified bacteria have revolutionised biotechnology, poisonous plants and animals have provided invaluable tools for discoveries on human physiology.
It is shortsighted and dangerous to dismiss efforts to preserve a product of natural selection. – Yours, etc,