In the news today there have been reports that laquinimod, a new drug developed to treat multiple sclerosis (MS), has performed well in an early (Phase IIb) (1). An MS patient's immune system attacks their central nervous system, leading to impaired communication in the nervous system and finally to physical and cognitive disability. A key … Continue reading How mice helped develop a new drug for MS
Category: Science News
Animal research and the Millennium Technology Prize
Yesterday in Helsinki Professor Robert Langer was awarded the 2008 Millennium Technology Prize for his work on intelligent drug delivery. The Millennium Technology Prize is the world's largest award for technological innovation and is considered by some to be the unofficial Nobel Prize for technology*. Prof. Langer was up against some very strong competition for … Continue reading Animal research and the Millennium Technology Prize
Americans Living Longer Thanks to Animal Research
“Americans are living longer, healthier lives and we owe much of that success to biomedical research,” said Robert Palazzo, Ph.D, President of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). This comes after the CDC announcement that US life expectancy has surpassed 78 years for the first time. Declines in death rates for heart … Continue reading Americans Living Longer Thanks to Animal Research
Calming the storm…while killing the virus
A couple of months ago Pro-Test blogged about some interesting research that may lead to new drugs that to prevent the lethal "cytokine storm" that was responsible for most deaths in the SARS outbreak. However SARS is not the only virus that kills by inducing an excessive immune response; the threat posed by the H5N1 … Continue reading Calming the storm…while killing the virus
Monkeys, Robots and the University of Pittsburgh – New hope for paralysis victims?
The day after Tom Holder spoke at the University of Pittsburgh about the importance of animal research, more news is coming from this academic institution. Every 45 seconds someone in the US gets a stroke, many are left paralyzed, furthermore 14,000 people every year suffer spinal cord injuries which may also result in paralysis. There … Continue reading Monkeys, Robots and the University of Pittsburgh – New hope for paralysis victims?
A monkey model of Huntington’s disease
Huntington's disease is an inherited neurological disease that affects about 30, 000 Americans and for which there is no effective treatment or cure. An important step to developing new treatments was announced last week when scientists at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta published a paper (1) describing how they genetically modified monkeys … Continue reading A monkey model of Huntington’s disease
A vaccine against meningitis B?
Newspapers in the UK are buzzing with excitement over news that a new vaccine against meningitis B developed by the Swiss pharmaceuticals firm Novartis has performed well in early clinical trials. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/may/15/health.medicalresearch http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/meningitis-defeated-at-last-828286.html About 3,000 mostly young people catch meningitis B every year in the USA, of whom about 10% die and 25% suffer lifelong … Continue reading A vaccine against meningitis B?
Animal research behind the headlines
The BBC has reported on calls for the new blood-thinning drug Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate/BIBR 1048) to be used more widely in patients who are at risk of blood clots following surgery, a serious complication that kills 25,000 patients each year. This drug works be inhibiting the enzyme Thrombin, a key player in clot formation. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7354818.stm … Continue reading Animal research behind the headlines
Speaking of Research 