Animals in research: C. elegans (roundworm)

The Conversation Hannah Nicholas 20 May 2013

One species of worm – Caenorhabditis elegans – has contributed more to medical science in the past few decades than you might think possible.  More commonly referred to simply as “the worm”,  C elegans is now the subject of research in hundreds of laboratories around the globe, including, at my count, at least ten labs in Australia.

Animal experiments under the microscope

Radio National Hagar Cohen 5 May 2013

The process of approving the use of animals in scientific experiments is in crisis, with animal welfare and scientific members on key ethics committees at loggerheads.

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Eggs created from mice stem cells, providing research avenue for human reproduction

The Australian AAP October 05, 2012

EXPERIMENTS which turned mice stem cells into viable eggs used to create offspring via in vitro fertilisation would be fraught with scientific and ethical hurdles in humans, Australian researchers say.
The findings, by Japanese researchers and published in the journal Science Express, showed eggs created from the mice stem cells could be fertilised and transplanted into female mice who gave birth to newborn pups.
But Australian researchers warned that although the findings showed it might be possible to create eggs from human stem cells in the same way, this was not an option at present.

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Humane drug test project welcomed

Courier Mail John von Radowitz AAP 25 July 2012

A $A68 million research project could see future generations of drugs tested on “organ chips” that mimic different parts of the human body.  As well as improving and speeding up drug development, the move could prevent the suffering and death of many thousands of laboratory animals.

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Zebrafish — the stars of biomedicine

(Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres 17 July 2012) Zebrafish share most organ systems with humans. This makes them ideal model organisms to study the causes of human diseases like cancer or heart diseases. For this purpose, research needs a variety of zebrafish lines. With the European Zebrafish Resource Center, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is now opening the first central repository for such lines in Europe.

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Link to European Zebrafish Resource Center

Link to the ZF-Health Project

Use of animals in UK research highest for 25 years

The Guardian Ian Sample 10 July 2012

The number of scientific procedures carried out on animals last year was the highest in Britain for almost 25 years, according to figures released by the Home Office.  More than 3.79m procedures, which range from breeding GM mice to mimicking neurological diseases in animals, were carried out, marking a rise of 68,100, or two percentage points, on 2010 figures.

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Link to statistical reports

New technique could reduce number of animals needed to test chemical safety

(Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council 29 June 2012) A new way of testing the safety of natural and synthetic chemicals has been developed by scientists with funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council. Their research, could reduce the number of fish needed to test the toxicity of a range of chemicals including pharmaceuticals and environmental pollutants.

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Modern mice pose a challenge for medical research

Neuroscience Research Australia 8 June 2012

The environment in which laboratory mice are reared can drastically alter the results of experiments and may have major implications for medical research around the world, according to new Australian data presented on 8 June 2012 at a meeting of The International Behavioral Neuroscience Society.

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Changing philosophy alters animals’ role in scientific research

Pennlive.com Elizabeth Gibson 22 April 2012

Science is finding ways to improve human life without imposing on dogs, cats, mice and monkeys.  When the owners of a Shippensburg-area kennel were charged last year with illegally trading hundreds of research lab dogs, a horrified community responded through social media.

Dogs are heavily used in research. Chimpanzees are used far less. In December, an Institute for Medicine report revealed that chimpanzees, so close to humans in makeup, really aren’t needed for most medical study. In fact, their use could be halted now, the report stated. The National Institutes of Health, which uses chimps in 37 studies, promised to cut its use of chimps by half.

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Activists’ pressure ‘slowing animal imports’

BBC News Mar 14, 2012

Pressure from animal rights activists on airlines and shipping companies is reducing the number of animals being brought into Britain for research, meaning people will “suffer and die”, scientists warn.

 

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