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
The Morality of Inaction: Reframing the Debate
Opponents of the use of animals in research challenge scientists and society as a whole to answer a simple question -- How can we possible justify harming other living beings in the course of scientific studies? In framing the moral debate with this question there is an implicit assumption that needs to be clarified. That … Continue reading The Morality of Inaction: Reframing the Debate
Follow the Law or Your Extremist Convictions?
This is the question that animal rights activist Camille Marino must be pondering as she heads back to Florida with an order by Wayne Circuit Court Judge Susan L. Hubbard to remove threatening statements from her web site against a Wayne State Professor, for which she will face trial on May 2nd. Marino's lawyer, John … Continue reading Follow the Law or Your Extremist Convictions?
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
End of Primate Research at the University of Toronto?
Intended or not, comments by a university administrator and veterinarian in some Canadian news articles last week likely gave some readers a distorted view not only of the status of research at the University of Toronto, but of animal research more broadly. A pair of articles reported that primate research at the U of T had ended. … Continue reading End of Primate Research at the University of Toronto?
Speaking of Research 