Month: February 2013

The Science of Linking

The growth of social media has given organisations new ways of engaging with audiences across the internet. However, a website’s core traffic is still derived from search engines, primarily Google (90% global market share). To increase traffic, a website needs to increase its position in search results for its key terms. This position is determined … Continue reading The Science of Linking

Raising the bar: What makes an effective public response in the face of animal rights campaigns?

For some scientists and institutions engaged in animal research,  activist campaigns against them are a fact of life.  These campaigns vary in tactics, scope, and longevity. At one end of the scale are the limited scope campaigns, perhaps when a paper reprints, more or less verbatim, an activist press release manufactured from misrepresenting publicly-available records. … Continue reading Raising the bar: What makes an effective public response in the face of animal rights campaigns?

Reduction: A Measure You Can’t Measure

The 3Rs – Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of animal research – can we measure the impact? Seems easy enough, but there are challenges. How many experiments have been replaced by non-animal alternatives? Do we count every time a cell culture is used in an experiment that might once have been done in vivo? No. While … Continue reading Reduction: A Measure You Can’t Measure

Why mice may succeed in research when a single mouse falls short

The New York Times recently produced an article entitled "Mice Fall Short as Test Subjects for Humans’ Deadly Ills" which argued that certain mouse models were flawed. This post by Mark Wanner was originally posted on The Jackson Laboratory's "Genetics and Your Health" blog aimed to clear up some of the misunderstandings that may have … Continue reading Why mice may succeed in research when a single mouse falls short

The British Government is Speaking of Research

Animal Rights groups are getting smart in their attempt to influence policy in the United Kingdom. The BUAV (British Union for the Abolition Vivisection) already have a collection of "pet" MPs who they use to create EDMs and put their signatures to letters in local newspapers. On the 5th February 2013 they convinced the Conservative … Continue reading The British Government is Speaking of Research

A Lesson in hypocrisy as PETA cries foul over one cat’s death while secretly killing hundreds more

You may have missed it, but Thursday was a big press day for PETA. A recap: First, PETA recruited a well- intentioned, yet surprisingly uninformed actor as a participant. Then, for the cost of a couple of plane tickets, the country's most outlandish ad agency animal rights group appeared at a University of Wisconsin Board … Continue reading A Lesson in hypocrisy as PETA cries foul over one cat’s death while secretly killing hundreds more

This House Does Not Believe Animal Research is a Moral Hazard

A lively debate at the Trinity College Dublin Philosophical Society on Thursday rejected the motion that "This House Believes that Animal Testing is a Moral Hazard". Speaking of Research founder, Tom Holder, joined three students in explaining both the moral and scientific case for the continued use of animals in medical research. In opposition was … Continue reading This House Does Not Believe Animal Research is a Moral Hazard