Today the BBC reports that the number of deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD) – the narrowing or blockage of the coronary arteries that causes angina and triggers heart attacks - in Europe halved during the 30 years from 1980 to 2009. This is a major medical achievement, and one to which animal research has … Continue reading Animal research helps to halve deaths from coronary heart disease
Category: Science News
Today’s Science live chat: Scientists discuss ethics of studying chimpanzees in captivity
In anticipation of NIH announcing a closely-watched decision on the potential retirement of hundreds of federally-funded chimpanzees, Science is hosting a live chat this afternoon at 3 p.m. EDT. The chat features several well-known scientists who will discuss some key issues relevant to the future of chimpanzee research, including: “What, if any, research should continue … Continue reading Today’s Science live chat: Scientists discuss ethics of studying chimpanzees in captivity
Animal research leads to promising results for first clinical trial of stem cell therapy for stroke
The BBC reported yesterday that a small trial of a stem cell therapy developed by the biotech firm Reneuron has produced promising results, with 5 of the 9 patients enrolled in the trial showing unexpected improvements. The improvements were unexpected because the trial was intended to assess the safety of the technique, and the scientists … Continue reading Animal research leads to promising results for first clinical trial of stem cell therapy for stroke
How to distort 0.004% of the statistics
This is the second guest post by Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, who is head of the division of Stem Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics at the Medical Research Council National Institute for Medical Research in London. After an earlier post which debunked myths about the nine-out-of-ten drug failure rate, Prof. Lovell-Badge has taken on the claim … Continue reading How to distort 0.004% of the statistics
Animal rights activism and medicine 100 years ago
There is a rather interesting book, Animal Experimentation and Medical Progress by William Williams Keen, published in 1914, which describes some of the incidents in the animal research debate during the early 1900s. What is striking about this book is that it illustrates very clearly how little (if at all) the arguments and tactics of animal … Continue reading Animal rights activism and medicine 100 years ago
First human stem cells created through cloning…thank Mitalipov’s macaques!
Today is one of those days that will go down in medical and scientific history, the day that scientists at Oregon Health and Science University led by Professor Shoukhrat Mitalipov announced that they had successfully created pluripotent human stem cells by cloning skin cells. This is the first time that this has been accomplished in human cells, … Continue reading First human stem cells created through cloning…thank Mitalipov’s macaques!
A new drug to treat type II diabetes: Thank the…Gila monster?
Earlier this week Lyxumia (generic name Lixisenatide), a new drug that helps to control type II diabetes, was launched in the UK. In addition to being an effective and saft therapy for type II diabeted, including in some patients that do not respond to current first-line therapies, Lyxumia is relatively inexpensive when compared to current therapies for type … Continue reading A new drug to treat type II diabetes: Thank the…Gila monster?
Treating Progeria; How GM mice give hope to some very special children
Something big is going on right now in the world of research. Something very specific for some very special children with a very rare disease. It may not be widely known by name but I am sure you have seen these children. The disease is called Progeria. From the Progeria Research Foundation's website, we learn: … Continue reading Treating Progeria; How GM mice give hope to some very special children
Speaking of Research 