The Journal of Venomous Animals and Toxins including Tropical Diseases ISSN 1678-9199 | 2010 | volume 16 | issue 3 | pages 398-399

The fire consumed... a treasure! ditor E

the Sant’Anna OA (1)) to

etter L

(1) Coordinator of the National Institute of Science and Technology on Toxins and Scientific Researcher, Butantan Institute, São Paulo, São Paulo State, .

Dear Sir, the affected departments, improve the salaries of the administrative staff and technical assistants, In June of 1897, in the luggage of Doctor Vital shake up the routine and definitively shift the Brazil, who was moving from Botucatu city to São focus to essential points, instead of merely Paulo city (Brazil), I can imagine clothes, tools starting new buildings and other restructuring and some furniture. Also with him were his wife, projects. Just to illustrate the level of excellence Maria da Conceição, and two daughters, three- of Butantan Institute´s researchers, in 2007, year-old Vitalina and one-year-old Alvarina. of the ten articles published in Brazil that And, incredible as it may seem, there were also were most cited internationally in the field of some specimens of and jararaca biomedicine, five were produced by researchers , animals that he had studied with the of the Butantan Institute. Any current production attitude of a biologist and that would mark his of vaccines and excellent is due to scientific career by taking part of the creation such highly qualified researchers who are capable of a globally renowned unique institution, the of producing outstanding science. The main Butantan Institute. funding agencies including CNPq, FAPESP and Until May 15th, these pioneering animals FINEP have constantly given substantial support were preserved with many others in the to relevant scientific or technological projects of Collection of Butantan Institute, to where Butantan. they were initially sent by the São Paulo rural And the institute became part of people´s lives population, then by people from the entire country because Brazilian society, unlike many temporary and, afterward, even by foreign communities. heads of state, has always recognized the relevance The animals were also gathered by researchers of researchers’ works and the importance of the for over a century and the collection became antivenoms produced by Butantan, which save an international reference. Vital Brazil´s vision lives and relieve suffering. In 1897, and long and ideals comprised principles rarely respected afterwards, nothing was known about DNA or in public institutions and universities: science, genetic code, while the French school of Louis education, culture and production of goods for Pasteur and the German school of the society were nurtured and consolidated over led the experimentation in science, Darwin and the years at the Butantan Institute. Wallace were little read and Brazil was taking its Now, instead of looking for culprits, it is first steps in the areas of , bacteriology necessary to rethink the future, revitalize and parasitology. Among us, , Vital the existing physical structures, restore the Brazil and Carlos Chagas were innovating. By architecture of the historical complex, support the way, the Snake Collection was, since the Sant’Anna OA. The fire consumed... a treasure! beginning, innovative and from the 1990s on, the Butantan Institute complex (the main building it started to contribute decisively to studies on is dying)… Because only the new is attractive, biodiversity and biological evolution through the the inauguration is worthwhile; restructuring techniques of molecular biology, which opened is instigated regardless of the history of the up a wide range of options for phylogeny, the individual or the institution. In education and study of the natural history of these reptiles. A science, the valuing of teachers and researchers is unique treasure that was incomparable anywhere only political rhetoric. else on the planet! Unfortunately, mere common After 42 years of studying, working and sense cannot apprehend what the fire consumed. teaching in post-graduation courses at USP, This sad careless country, whose past matters little UNICAMP and UNIFESP, this reality has or not at all, therefore, has an uncertain, insipid, become clearer than ever: how power exudes rot! odorless… unhealthy future! What small-minded people are in this world! And the fire extinguished not only a collection, Do they propose innovations? As I have recently but also research projects (entirely or partially), exposed at a meeting in FIESP, INNOVATION IS such as the project of the National Institute of A HISTORY TOLD IN THE FUTURE. The fire Science and Technology on Toxins, supported by destroyed one of these rare histories that will not CNPq and FAPESP, and also the works of students generate new histories told in the future… supervised by researchers from Butantan and The misery is intellectual and the poverty will other institutions of education and research. be endless. Today, we wander according to the will of non- governmental organizations and organizations of COPYRIGHT civil society for public interests and, more than © CEVAP 2010 ever, we are subject to the immediate interests of the business elite, politicians and money SUBMISSION STATUS bosses; between publicity and velocity, people Received: May 27, 2010. live by appearances, inauguration of construction Accepted: May 27, 2010. works and vanity. Mentally unemployed persons Full paper published online: August 31, 2010. (most of the economically employed) barely know that the telegraph or the most modern cell CONFLICTS OF INTEREST phones are nothing but variations on the same There is no conflict. theme, and their true relevance derives from the idea, this one extraordinary, of long-distance CORRESPONDENCE TO communication. We are citizens guided by OSVALDO AUGUSTO BRAZIL ESTEVES stock exchange speculators and, worse, by mind SANT’ANNA, Laboratório de Imunoquímica, speculators. Corrupts and venal persons propose Instituto Butatan, Avenida Vital Brazil, 1500, São the construction of new buildings while old ones Paulo, SP, 05.503-900, Brasil. Phone: +55 11 3726 are considered garbage, poorly preserved and 7222, ext. 2001. Fax: +55 11 3726 1505. Email: inadequately maintained such as the buildings of [email protected].

J Anim Toxins incl Trop Dis | 2010 | volume 16 | issue 3 399