Animal Testing Poll – Let Your Voice Be Heard

The British broadsheet newspaper, The Guardian, has a poll on its website about views on animal testing - please go and show your approval for this important tool in the development of modern medicine: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/poll/2011/jul/14/animal-testing-research No need to sign up to vote, however you will need to if you intend to leave a comment as … Continue reading Animal Testing Poll – Let Your Voice Be Heard

Putting Public Polls in Perspective

Research!America, a not-for-profit public education and advocacy alliance, has been polling the public on their views on animal research for the last decade. In 2011, when asking whether people "believe the use of animals in medical research is necessary for progress in human health", found: At first, these results may seem positive - twice as … Continue reading Putting Public Polls in Perspective

PR: Progressive Response

The Metro, a free UK newspaper read by around 3.5 million British commuters each day, today showed why the British public do not find animal research a particularly contentious issue. In less than 200 words,The Metro reported on the use of naked mole rats in the fight against cancer. The naked mole rat has an … Continue reading PR: Progressive Response

Lighting the Way to New Treatments

A variety of diseases in humans happen when proteins with important cellular functions are lacking or are produced in abnormally low amounts. One example is type-2 diabetes mellitus which is caused by a complex set of problems involving the use of sugars (mostly, glucose) as an energy source. After eating, sugars in food are taken … Continue reading Lighting the Way to New Treatments

Compliance at Work

One of the core principles at SR is that animal research should be conducted with the utmost care, responsibility and respect towards the animals.  All personnel involved in animal research should strictly follow the pertinent guidelines, regulations and laws.  Unfortunately, as in all human endeavors, there are isolated individuals who sometimes fail to adhere to … Continue reading Compliance at Work

Have No Fear, Mice Are Here

This nice report from PBS Chicago describes how researchers at Northwestern University are using mice to study post-traumatic stress disorder, and get at the basic mechanisms of fear. They already have positive results with experimental drugs that could eventually be used to treat people and prevent traumatic memories from taking over their lives -- whether … Continue reading Have No Fear, Mice Are Here

Survey: Your Views On Research

I was recently contacted by a member of the University of British Columbia Animal Welfare Program, who invited our members and supporters to complete a survey on the use of animals in science. The survey should take about 10 minutes and requires you to sign up (shouldn't take long). So when you have a few spare … Continue reading Survey: Your Views On Research

Novartis stands up for animal research

Pharmaceutical companies have traditionally tended to avoid direct involvement in the debate on animal research, even though they and their employees and contractors  are among the more frequent targets of animal rights extremism, so I was delighted to see this new video from the leading pharmaceutical company Novartis on YouTube. That it is Novartis leading the way on this issue should … Continue reading Novartis stands up for animal research