Not so scientific science

Science magazine is the most prestigious scientific journal on this planet. I missed a letter last August about the possibility of scrapie in ancient China, (Scrapie in Ancient China? -- Wickner 309 (5736): 874b -- Science) until I read the two comments on the recent issue (n. 5769, p.1876). Scrapie is a fatal brain disease for sheep that causes an uncontrollable itching sensation. This disease gets more attention due to the similarity with mad cow disease but can be traced back to 18^th century. Dr. Wickner's argued that the simplified Chinese character itchy is a combination of disease and sheep, so this character might indicate an evidence of scrapie. Because Chinese writing system is more than 2000 years old, scrapie can be traced back to 2000 years ago in China. I respect Dr. Wickner's creativity. I should have looked at my native language in a more creative perspective. However, the evolution of Chinese writing system is not that straightforward. Any person educated in Taiwan or Hong Kong knows the traditional version of this character (癢) is not about a sheep disease.

Looking at the structure of this Chinese character for clue is an interesting idea but has to be dealt with carefully. I am wondering why no one reviewed this letter. Feel like Science looks after interesting stories to sell more copies rather than science.