Kailah Eglington, Chief Executive of the Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research, said: “We welcome the Community Secretary’s decision to stop even more dogs suffering unnecessarily in laboratory experiments. 

“Plans to expand the Beagle Farm were wrong not only ethically but on scientific and economic grounds as well, particularly as proven alternatives already exist.

“It is widely accepted by health professionals and scientific experts that animal-based models are flawed.  More relevant, human-based, alternatives hold great potential to progress medical research and can put an end to animals suffering and dying with no relevant purpose.”

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In particular, primate development is different from development in mice, neither of which is the same as human development. Chimera monkeys are also a genetic mixture of male and female raising further concerns, apart from the ethical ones, over their scientific suitability. 

These concerns are echoed in the article itself which highlights that ‘it is important to encourage human stem cell biologists to avoid false expectations from other species such as the mouse’.

Animals systems are different from human systems in that they do not suffer from the same diseases as humans. Animals do not have the same immune response to disease that humans do and even where an identical defective gene occurs in humans and animals, the animal will not always develop the same disease as a human or will not develop any disease at all.

Given the inconsistent results achieved to date in animal experiments, time and money would be better served in continuing to develop alternatives which are more human relevant and stop animal lives from being lost, particularly when their pain and suffering serves no relevant purpose.

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The sensor nanoparticles synthesized by the research team can be used to study the impact of chemical compounds such as drugs and other medical treatments on live cells in culture. Healthy cells use and store high levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for energy. If metabolic activity is at a high level in the cells, they produce more ATP. Thus, the damaged cells can only generate lower amount of ATP. According to the research group, the innovative nanosensor is capable of determining the amount of ATP in order to assess the health status of the cells, which in turn helps determine the damage that can be caused by medical chemicals and compounds on the cells.

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"We have made several discoveries about the mechanism behind contact allergy, one of which is that allergenic substances react with keratin 5 and 14 in the skin. The skin cells form what are known as "blebs" when exposed to allergenic substances, and this can be used to test whether a substance is allergenic", says Sofia Andersson from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Gothenburg.

Contact allergy affects around 20% of the population in the western world. Metals such as nickel, and substances in perfume and preservatives are among the most common allergenic substances. They are often components of products that are in contact with the skin, such as jewellery, skin lotions and make up. Contact allergy cannot be cured, and an affected person must avoid the allergenic substance, in order to avoid troublesome eczema. This can be a problem if the substance is present in many different products. It is for this reason important to test cosmetic products in order to prevent the development of contact allergy.

The EU has now forbidden the testing of cosmetics and their ingredients on animals. It is, however, not a simple matter to fully replace animal tests. Until now, animal-free tests have only been able to determine whether a substance is allergenic or not – such tests have not been able to determine the extent to which a substance causes allergy. Thus, much work remains to be done in developing alternative methods.

"Cultured skin cells are exposed to substances for 24 hours in our test, and then photographed. The number of cells with blebs is then counted. The greater the number of blebbing cells, the more powerful is the allergenic potential of the substance. Thus, our new test has the potential to give a graded reply: it can quite simply determine whether an allergenic substance is extremely, strongly, moderately or weakly allergenic", says Sofia Andersson.

The results can then be used to determine safe concentrations of substances in products that are used in contact with the skin. Since the experiments have given very promising results, the scientists are now working together with GU Holding in developing the test and the analysis method.

More information: The thesis Contact Sensitizers Induce Keratinocytes to Release Epitopes - Tools for In Vitro Tests and Implications for Autoimmunity was successfully defended at a disputation held at the University of Gothenburg.

Information provided by University of Gothenburg

We are particularly grateful to all our generous supporters who have continued to give us donations in spite of the recession and to our departed friends who have continued to support our work through their legacies.

We have come a long way since we were founded in 1970 and we have saved countless animal lives with the stunning breakthroughs that have been made by our funded scientists. For 40 years, we have remained staunch in our conviction that one day we will live in a world where animal experimentation is a thing of the past and each year, we come closer to this goal.

Christmas is a time of believing; it is a time of hope for the future and a time for peace on Earth and goodwill towards men. I ask that each of you now joins me in also believing that this goodwill continues to find its way in 2012 and beyond to all the animals with whom we share this planet.

Wishing all of our friends and supporters a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May the coming year bring more enlightenment to all as well as bringing renewed hope in the huge progress we are making towards ending all animal experimentation.

Many thanks!

Kailah

Full article here

The appeal follows a warning from the World Health Organisation that an increase in mental health issues means urgent investment in new treatments for psychiatric disorders and brain diseases is needed.

The Brain Box Appeal will build on very promising and ethical research into brain disease already underway.

Kailah Eglington, Chief Executive of the DHT, says: “The majority of neurophysiology research to date has been conducted using highly invasive techniques on primates, rodents, rats, rabbits, dogs and cats. 

“But, animals are poor predictors of such uniquely human conditions which is why most animal research fails.  We want to improve our understanding of these devastating diseases through high quality research that doesn’t harm animals.”

The DHT has scientists and researchers around the UK working on promising brain-related projects.  The Brain Box Appeal will help continue this work and develop cutting-edge technologies that result in more human-relevant science.

How to help

To donate to the Brain Box Appeal click here.  When donating please specify in ‘Additional information’ which brain box you would to donate towards:

Brain Box One: Mental Health

Utilising EEG-fMRI technology is laying important groundwork in mental health research combining two types of brain scanning to help improve our understanding and treatment of depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.  This replaces the use of monkeys, cats and rodents in very cruel experiments.

Brain Box Two: Epilepsy

Of all the human brain disorders, epilepsy ranks as one that currently uses a substantial number of laboratory animals.  An artificial epileptic state is induced in these animals causing painful seizures in rats, mice and rabbits.  This project is using in vitro epileptic human brain  tissue, which has been donated after surgery to research the disease.

Brain Box Three: Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a condition in which people go back and forth between periods of very good or irritable moods and depression.  The “mood swings” between mania and depression can be very quick.  An exciting new technology is being developed that could help sufferers and save thousands of dogs and rats that are sacrificed each year.

The goal of the testing is to provide results that will be useful for evaluating if these chemicals have the potential to disrupt processes in the human body to an extent that leads to adverse health effects.

The compounds will be tested in the Tox21 robotic screening system at the NCGC in Rockville, Md. The Tox21 robot, unveiled earlier this year, was purchased with funds provided by the NTP as part of its contribution to the Tox21 partnership.

All testing results will be available to the public through NIH and EPA chemical toxicity databases. In addition, NCTT has created a Tox21 chemical inventory browser freely available at http://tripod.nih.gov/tox21chem to provide researchers with additional about the chemicals. For more information about Tox21, visit http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/assets/docs_p_z/ntp-tox21.pdf

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Research from Cardiff University’s School of Biosciences has pioneered a process of combining cells taken from human “waste tissue” donated by people when they die.

Cell biologist Dr Kelly BéruBé – who led the project – said the potential for the applicability of the Metabo-Lung could be worth “billions of pounds”.

The development work now under way at Cardiff University could offer a genuine alternative to animal testing for pharmaceutical companies developing new drugs for pulmonary disorders such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cystic fibrosis.

More people die in the UK from respiratory disease than from coronary heart disease or non-respiratory cancer – and researchers claim that there have been few treatments produced for respiratory conditions in the past 25 years. And Dr BéruBé said testing in animals had proven to have a “high error rate” in indicating the efficacy of drugs treating lung conditions.

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Click here to read our report on AIDS research.

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Click here for the JRC-IHCP Summary

--- the press release reads ---

Professor Linzey, who is Director of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, said: "I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of my colleagues at the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, who are in the forefront of pioneering this subject internationally.”

“Animal ethics is now an emerging discipline with scores of university courses world-wide, and this is a tremendous boost to those working in this field.”

“Animal ethics explores the challenges that new thinking poses, both conceptually and practically, to traditional understandings of human-animal relations.”

Professor Elizabeth Stuart, Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor commented: “At Winchester we value and celebrate those who champion the voiceless and challenge the dominant paradigms. We shall honour one of the animals’ most thoughtful and passionate champions, someone who I believe will be remembered as one of the most pioneering and influential theologians of his day.”

Professor Linzey was made an Honorary Professor of the University of Winchester in 2007, and in the same year his book Creatures of the Same God was the first to be published by Winchester University Press. He is also co-editor of the Journal of Animal Ethics published by the University of Illinois Press.

“Winchester has one of the most progressive departments of theology in the country, and I am delighted to be associated with it,” said Professor Linzey.

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Best regards,

Kailah.

It’s a fantastic programme for charities too as we could benefit from your skills and experience without incurring any extra costs.

To find out more, visit http://worldofdifference.vodafone.co.uk/ and, while you’re there, discover how previous winners have helped their chosen charities.  Before you apply, make sure you get in touch so we can have a chat about the roles we’re looking to fill and discuss how and where you might be able to fit in.

Applications close on 22 November 2011.  If you’re chosen, you’ll be invited to an induction in February and your placement will begin in March 2012.

Also, why not head to Facebook and make friends with ‘Vodafone Foundation – World of Difference UK’ and follow @wod_uk on Twitter to get the latest World of Difference UK news.

The Quality of Life Sanctuary in Devon, has been evicted from its land after their bank foreclosed on them. With the proprietors already forced to leave, the animals have been left with nowhere to go. All negotiations to allow the animals to stay in their home have failed, and they must now be removed or face the unthinkable...

Please visit www.hillside.org.uk to find out how you can help 35 horses and ponies, also cows, sheep and goats.

Thank you

Kailah.

THIS E-PETITION IS NOW CLOSED. THE LINK IS FOR INFOMATION ONLY.

Click here to view the e-petition

In vitro studies offer quicker, cheaper and more ethical alternatives to animal testing. Driven by the introduction of legislation such as REACH, as well as an amendment to the Cosmetics Directive, banning marketing of cosmetic products containing ingredients tested on animals, there has been a concerted effort to develop in vitro assays for regulatory toxicity risk assessment.

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Allergan Inc., the company that makes Botox, announced earlier that the Food and Drug Administration has approved its new method to test Botox's potency. Instead of having to test every batch on live animals, it can now run a test on cells in a lab dish.

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