To the editor:

Kansans who lack a good science education need to beware. On the same day (July 25) the Journal-World reports how cutting-edge genetics has explained why cats are finicky about food, it also tells us about a local pet psychic who solves cats’ dietary issues by communicating with them using ESP.

Del Monte and Hills employ more than 1,000 people at their pet food plants in Topeka and Lawrence, so it’s important to know what cats like. Does the “Electromagnetic Frequency Balancing Technique” used by the psychic represent a valid alternative to genetic sequencing? Which is really scientific?

Many people will find it easier to understand “energy medicine” than to try and grasp how a 247-letter deletion in the gene TasIr2, discovered using polymerase chain reactions, inhibits the production of a key protein in cats that’s required for tasting sweetness. Others will utterly reject the idea that this same deletion that occurs in the DNA of lions, tigers, cheetahs and domestic cats is further proof of their evolution from a common ancestor. However, a widespread belief in psychic powers shouldn’t justify teaching ESP as an alternative to DNA in the Kansas science curriculum. The real news would have been if the cats had told the psychic about their inability to taste sweets before the scientists did.

As long as kitties choose to keep some things secret, Kansans need to know that there is a big difference between science and belief. P.T. Barnum knew why.

John W. Hoopes,

Lawrence