Liver transplant breakthrough set to save thousands of lives: Thank the pigs!

On Friday the BBC reported that Ian Christie, a man who developed cirrhosis of the liver after being infected with hepatitis C during a blood transfusion 25 years ago, had become the first person in the world to receive a transplanted liver that had been preserved at room temperature rather than being cooled after being … Continue reading Liver transplant breakthrough set to save thousands of lives: Thank the pigs!

A Noble cause: Protecting babies brains with Xenon

Back in October I wrote about how animal research has enabled the development of brain cooling as a treatment to reduce brain damage in babies who had suffered oxygen starvation during birth. This is a problem that affects tens of thousands of babies every year, and frequently results in death or long-term disability. Brain cooling … Continue reading A Noble cause: Protecting babies brains with Xenon

Protecting a broken heart: the discovery of remote ischemic preconditioning.

After a couple of weeks dominated by dialogue with moderate animal rights activists, and subsequently the response of the scientific community to threats by animal rights extremists,  it is refreshing to be able to turn again to an example of how research on rabbits and dogs is furthering medical progress. The prospects of surviving a … Continue reading Protecting a broken heart: the discovery of remote ischemic preconditioning.