The author comments on the case of Penelope London, a four-year-old girl suffering from a rare kind of cancer. This case pits a scientifically based system for governing the conduct of research against the desperate of a family that their daughter will benefit from research. The parents of Penelope would provide more help to her if they directed their hope and efforts to practical and achievable goals to improve her quality of life and the management of symptom in the final days of her life.