January 9th 2020 Short read summary: Local news reported yesterday that the council of a small Wisconsin city voted in favor of an ordinance that would “ban dog and cat experimental breeding in Richland Center and prohibits transporting dogs and cats outside of Richland Center for experimentation elsewhere.” The only source cited in the WKOW … Continue reading #AskScientists: Small US city bans research animal breeding, why?
Tag: UW Madison
“Piglets into Personalized Avatars” is #SciComm done right!
Yesterday, Ed Yong, a science writer for The Atlantic, published a fantastic article describing how miniature pigs are now being relied upon as personalized models of devastating diseases. His article described how Dr. Dhanu Shanmuganayagam is using the gene-editing technique CRISPR to create pigs that have the specific mutations of particular individuals with the disease neurofibromatosis … Continue reading “Piglets into Personalized Avatars” is #SciComm done right!
Zika research in nonhuman primates critical as fears among pregnant women, families grow
Jordana Lenon, B.S., B.A., is the outreach specialist for the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center and the Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine Center, both at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In this guest post Jordana talks about WNPRC research on Zika virus. Wisconsin National Primate Research Center scientist David O’Connor is emphasizing using “as few animals … Continue reading Zika research in nonhuman primates critical as fears among pregnant women, families grow
70 year old professor retires and closes lab, PETA claims victory
The retirement of a highly respected senior neuroscientist at the center of a sustained recent publicity campaign by an animal rights group generated a victory claim on Friday when PETA realized that their target had retired. The retirement came after a productive and award-winning 40 year research and teaching career. University of Wisconsin-Madison neuroscience Professor … Continue reading 70 year old professor retires and closes lab, PETA claims victory
A Philosopher’s Dream
A moral philosopher had the following dream: First Darwin appeared, and the philosopher said to him, "Could you give me a fifteen-minute capsule sketch for your support of medical research using animals?" To the philosopher's surprise, Darwin gave him an excellent exposition in which he compressed an enormous amount of material into a mere fifteen minutes, … Continue reading A Philosopher’s Dream
Jeffrey Kahn’s Odd Views on Animal Research
Professor Jeffrey Kahn visited UW Madison to discuss the use of monkeys in medical research. He is the Robert Henry Levi and Ryda Hecht Levi Professor of Bioethics and Public Policy and the Deputy Director for Policy and Administration at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. Professor Kahn has participated in numerous federal panels … Continue reading Jeffrey Kahn’s Odd Views on Animal Research
An Ongoing Conversation with Robert Streiffer on Science and Ethics
I would like to thank Prof. Robert Streiffer for taking the time to comment on an earlier post of mine regarding the ongoing dialogue on the ethics of animal research at UW-Madison. I had originally drafted an email to him with a reply, which is now reproduced below. I am sure the readers will forgive … Continue reading An Ongoing Conversation with Robert Streiffer on Science and Ethics
A Public Conversation on Animal Ethics: The good, the bad, and the ugly
The UW-Madison recently hosted a conversation on the ethics of animal research between Rick Marolt, an opponent of animal research, and Robert Streiffer, a bioethicist at the university and member of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Here are some of my thoughts on this interesting exchange. The good: Above all, it is good … Continue reading A Public Conversation on Animal Ethics: The good, the bad, and the ugly
Speaking of Research 