October 6th 2020 The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been jointly awarded to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles M. Rice, who have made a decisive contribution to the fight against blood-borne hepatitis, a major health problem that causes cirrhosis and liver cancer in people around the world. Inflammation of the … Continue reading 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology & Medicine highlights vital role of animal research
Animal models paved the way for Phase III testing of the COVID-19 vaccine
Yesterday, NIH and Moderna announced the start of a multi-site, Phase 3 clinical trial of a candidate vaccine for COVID-19. This candidate vaccine uses messenger RNA, or mRNA, a “codebook” that cellular machinery “reads” in order to build proteins. For this candidate vaccine, the mRNA contains instructions for building spike proteins found on the coronavirus, … Continue reading Animal models paved the way for Phase III testing of the COVID-19 vaccine
UK releases 2019 animal use statistics
7/17/20 The United Kingdom reports a wealth of information every year on its use of animals in research. Every animal procedure must be categorized according to the overall purpose (and specific disease area or regulatory purpose if relevant), the genetic status of the animals and the severity of the procedure. Great Britain (England, Scotland and … Continue reading UK releases 2019 animal use statistics
June 10th #ShutDownSTEM
Scientific research is a human endeavor that succeeds best when the community of individuals who undertake it are diverse in thought, life experience, and expertise, and when the community of researchers welcomes each individual into an inclusive environment that encourages them to thrive. Sadly, however, research institutions are not free from the systemic racism and … Continue reading June 10th #ShutDownSTEM
A small number of monkeys could help millions of people: Coronavirus vaccine testing
05/27/20 At a time when so many lives across the world have been lost to the invisible viral threat called coronavirus or SARS-COV-02, the exit strategy for nearly every country is focused squarely on a vaccine being developed. Here, we consider why vaccine candidates require testing with animals before human trials can be conducted. We … Continue reading A small number of monkeys could help millions of people: Coronavirus vaccine testing
Animal research ‘in parallel’, lessons from Spina Bifida
Some often think animal research follows a step-wise trajectory until the research is developed into a human therapy. But the two often continue in parallel. Spina bifida and open fetal surgery are a great example of this process.
Irresponsible behavior by animal rights activists in the midst of a global health crisis
April 28th 2020 On April 22 – in the middle of a global health crisis that has killed over 200,000 people worldwide, including nearly 57,000 Americans, police were called away from their important public safety efforts in order to respond to an angry, disruptive protest in an otherwise generally quiet suburban neighborhood near Washington DC. … Continue reading Irresponsible behavior by animal rights activists in the midst of a global health crisis
Evergreen: Celebrating #WorldImmunizationWeek 2020 – Reversing the damage
April 28th 2020 TL:DR Get vaccinated, do not spread misinformation, educate and confront your fears! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqAvg21S_mg Twenty five years ago, Andrew Wakefield published a series of fabricated studies, in the end claiming that the MMR vaccine causes autism--and with a personal gain of (~674,000 USD). Since then, millions of dollars, which could otherwise have been … Continue reading Evergreen: Celebrating #WorldImmunizationWeek 2020 – Reversing the damage
