Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with the important role played by animal research in neuroscience, a post we published to mark Brain Awareness Week earlier this year covered but a tiny fraction of the work being done around the world. Meanwhile some neuroscientists have been thinking big...very big...with the launch of the … Continue reading Solving the Brain: Animal research at the frontiers of Neuroscience
Tag: animal research
Italian Gene Therapy Success – Thanks to Animal Research
Italian scientists announced yesterday that they had successfully treated the deadly genetic disorders metachromatic leukodystrophy and Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome in a small clinical trial, marking and another major landmark in the developing field of gene therapy. As you might expect the breakthrough has received widespread media coverage, including CBS, the BBC and the Italian edition of the Huffington Post. While … Continue reading Italian Gene Therapy Success – Thanks to Animal Research
To engineer a new heart, first you take a pig…
This week the prestigious science journal Nature carries two fascinating reports on the progress being made in the exciting field of tissue engineering that we recommend to our readers - both are open access so you don't need a subscription to Nature to read them. The first is a feature article by Brenden Maher entitled "Tissue … Continue reading To engineer a new heart, first you take a pig…
Senators welcome Pro-Test Italia
This post is based on a recent post by Pro-Test Italia that can be found here. On July 3, 2013, Pro-Test Italia was welcomed by Senators from several political parties to discuss the animal welfare and research implications of the new Italian law transposing the new EU Directive 2010/63/EU. Pro-Test Italia members had the opportunity … Continue reading Senators welcome Pro-Test Italia
Time for a change?
Scientists and the scientific community receive some fairly standard advice when it comes to direct response to some animal rights groups’ stunts and campaigns. What is it? Typically some variant of: Ignore it. Don’t give them free publicity, the attention just helps them grow. Don’t acknowledge that their campaigns affect us, it will just reinforce … Continue reading Time for a change?
The Day Italy United for Science – 8 June 2013
It seemed like a crazy plan when we first heard about it from our friends in Pro-Test Italia at the end of April, to organize a day of events in cities across Italy to campaign for correct scientific information, and to do so in less than 6 weeks...and with a starting budget of precisely nothing. … Continue reading The Day Italy United for Science – 8 June 2013
Fair partners in dialogue: Starting assumptions matter and they should be spelled out
Editors' note: Because the issue of starting assumptions remains in any dialogue about animal-based research, this post has been updated (December 2018) to include more recent anti-animal research organizations, and to provide up-to-date links. The importance and need for civil, open dialogue about the complex set of issues involved in use of animals is among … Continue reading Fair partners in dialogue: Starting assumptions matter and they should be spelled out
Charities doing animal research outreach right
A while ago we assessed the five biggest medical research charities in the US for the strength of their position statements on animal research. None got more than 1 star our of 4. Yet good practise by charities for discussing animal research does exist. Take this example: Alzheimer’s Research UK has just produced a fantastic … Continue reading Charities doing animal research outreach right
Speaking of Research 