An on-going campaign against the use non-human primates to study Parkinson's disease (PD) at the University of British Columbia prompted me to summarize some basic facts about the work and the history of a successful therapy was developed. Why is the work done? In the U.S. alone there are between 500,000 and 1 million people living … Continue reading A Brief History of Deep Brain Stimulation
Category: Science News
Tom talks nerdy to Cara Santa Maria about monkeys, prosthetic hands and brain machine interfaces.
Speaking of Research founder Tom Holder was recently interviewed by the Huffington Post’s new science correspondent Cara Santa Maria for her blog “Talk Nerdy To Me” . In her latest post Cara examines whether research performed on monkeys by a Chinese group with the aim of developing improved brain-machine interface technology to control a prosthetic … Continue reading Tom talks nerdy to Cara Santa Maria about monkeys, prosthetic hands and brain machine interfaces.
STOP lying about research at the University of British Columbia
In a post a couple of weeks ago entitled “End of primate research at the University of Toronto?” Allyson Bennet wrote about the truth behind the spin that primate research has ceased at the University of Toronto (UT), commenting that: If nothing else, those inclined to dodge should consider that they are deriving benefit from … Continue reading STOP lying about research at the University of British Columbia
Understanding Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs)
Looking through some animal rights websites and forums I see the same misconceptions come up again and again on the subject of animal research. The first questions can be paraphrased thus: "If animal research advances medical science, how come when the animal experiments end and the products go to market, the humans experiments begin?" There … Continue reading Understanding Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs)
Part 2: University of Toronto ends live primate research – Outsourcing Controversy
Earlier this week we wrote about the University of Toronto’s public statements concerning the end of their on-site primate research. A number of broader questions were raised by considering similar cases and articles. Among them, what does it mean for a university to claim that it does not engage in a particular type of research? … Continue reading Part 2: University of Toronto ends live primate research – Outsourcing Controversy
AAAS recognizes the work of Speaking of Research members
On Friday two of our number, David Jentsch and Dario Ringach, travelled to Vancouver to join their UCLA colleague Edythe London in receiving the prestigious Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society, with over 125,000 members, and the … Continue reading AAAS recognizes the work of Speaking of Research members
Can stem cells repair broken hearts? Thanks to animal research we may soon find out!
On Monday – and appropriately perhaps just in time for St. Valentine’s day – a team of scientists at the Cedars Sinai Heart Institute led by Dr. Eduardo Marbán announced that in a small clinical trial they had repaired damaged heart tissue using an infusion stem cells derived from the heart attack patient’s own heart. … Continue reading Can stem cells repair broken hearts? Thanks to animal research we may soon find out!
A welcome end to random-source dog and cat dealers
The National Institutes of Health has announced that starting October 1, 2012, NIH funds may no longer be used to buy cats from Class B dealers. A similar prohibition in the purchase of dogs from Class B dealers takes effect in 2015. Although dogs and cats constitute only small percentage of research animals, they have … Continue reading A welcome end to random-source dog and cat dealers
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