Cutting-edge Science?

Natural History, Dec, 2007 by Laurie Sexton, Olivia Judson

I cringed at the description of the surgery on the pregnant ewe ["A Human Cell in Sheep's Clothing," 7-8/07]. Author and surgeon seem oblivious to the operation's severity and the ewe's painful recovery. Laurie Sexton New York, New York

OLIVIA JUDSON REPLIES: I am not used to seeing surgery, so I expected to be horrified; instead, I was impressed. The surgeon was not at all callous, and the sheep was given the same care that a human patient would get, including pain killers. After such an operation, sheep usually appear to be back to normal within an hour or so.