MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'animal research'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:52:06 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3307132&cid=t_165095_180_f&fid=38612&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpickthebrain%2FLYVv%2F%7E3%2F8UpCGlTBD9Y%2F Conclusion: We learn to fear things when we associate them with another event, for example a child might fear darkness after associating it with the noisy sound that happened when his mother slammed the door of a dark room. Moreover, if a child watched an adult reacting with fear to a certain situation the child will develop fear too!! The frog that died in the boiling water: When a group of frogs were thrown in boiling water they jumped out of the pot very quickly and managed to survive. However, when the same frogs were put into cold water that was slowly heated, all of them perished when the water came to a boil, because they didn’t have time to react Conclusion: We can feel sudden changes but when the change happens over time we don’t feel it until it is too late. People do... PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3307132 Wed, 24 Feb 2010 18:23:41 +0100 3307132 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2405116&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F05%2Fanother-barely-veiled-threat-of-murder.html This comes very close to an outright death threat--without quite being one. An animal rights terrorist supporter named Jason Miller has strongly hinted that a UCLA animal researcher could be murdered, and indeed seems to hope that it will happen. From a preface to his piece against animal research in Thomas Paine's Corner:I'm dedicating this piece to the courageous animal defenders and rescuers comprising the ALF, the Justice Department, the Animal Liberation Brigade, and the other militant direct action groups who are taking the fight to vivisectors and the rest of their ilk comprising the animal exploitation complex. Given the relentless nature of the systemic torment and slaughter of millions of other sentient beings that take place day after day, violent responses from nonhuman animal ... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2405116 Sun, 10 May 2009 15:34:00 +0100 2405116 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2389723&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F05%2Fanimal-to-human-xenotransplantation.html Scientists in Japan have used animal research to explore a potential way around the organ shortage by growing transplantable organs in sheep made from stem cells. In this case, it is monkey organs, but within a decade, it could be human organs. From the story:Huddled at the back of her shed, bleating under a magnificent winter coat and tearing cheerfully at a bale of hay, she is possibly the answer to Japan's chronic national shortage of organ donors: a sheep with a revolutionary secret. Guided by one of the animal's lab-coated creators, the visitor's hand is led to the creature's underbelly and towards a spot in the middle under eight inches of greasy wool. Lurking there is a spare pancreas. This would not be xenotransplantation in the usual sense of the term, since the procured organ wou... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2389723 Tue, 05 May 2009 00:30:00 +0100 2389723 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2032989&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F12%2Fbenefit-of-animal-research-diabetes.html Ethical regenerative medical research, coupled with animal experimentation, is leading toward the alleviation of tremendous amounts of human suffering. Israeli scientists have cured mice with type 1 diabetes. From the story: Lewis grafted healthy islets into diabetic mice and treated them with an anti-inflammatory drug called alpha-1-antitrypsin, or AAT. Within months, they discovered three encouraging results: -- AAT enabled the newly grafted islets to survive indefinitely, successfully secreting insulin to control glucose levels like healthy pancreas cells. -- The researchers stopped administering AAT and the islets continued to function. "We withdrew the therapy. That is something that is unique in transplant today," Lewis explained. "There is no approach today that is able to provide a... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2032989 Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:33:00 +0100 2032989 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1963876&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F11%2Fembattled-oxford-animal-research-center.html It wasn't easy, a thicket of opposition, sometimes very threatening, from animal rights activists, impeded progress, but the new Oxford animal research center has finally opened. From the story on BBC:Four years ago, Cambridge University cancelled plans for a primate research centre, because of concerns over spiralling security costs linked to animal rights. It marked a huge victory for animal rights protestors, who then moved their campaign to Oxford. The vast majority of protests have been entirely lawful. But the police say a small minority of extremists have carried out acts of arson and vandalism against the university, building contractors and anyone they suspected of being linked to the new laboratory. In 2004 the contractors pulled out citing... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1963876 Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:54:00 +0100 1963876 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1901308&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F10%2Fsingle-mouse-adult-stem-cell-grows-new.html Here's an exciting animal experiment. Scientists found an adult prostate stem cell in mice and one cell grew an entire new prostate gland. From the story. Here we identify CD117 (c-kit, stem cell factor receptor) as a new marker of a rare adult mouse PSC population, and demonstrate that a single stem cell defined by the phenotype Lin-Sca-1+CD133+CD44+CD117+ can generate a prostate after transplantation in vivo. CD117 expression is predominantly localized to the region of the mouse prostate proximal to the urethra and is upregulated after castration-induced prostate involution—two characteristics consistent with that of a PSC marker. CD117+ PSCs can generate functional, secretion-producing prostates when transplanted in vivo.It's a very long way from human application, obviously, but anot... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1901308 Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:29:00 +0100 1901308 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1879759&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F10%2Fone-brain-cell-can-restore-feeling-to.html Some stories are two-fers; that is they relate to two (or perhaps more) issues we address here at SHS. This is one of those. Scientists, using monkeys in experiments, have discovered that one brain cell may be able to restore feeling in the paralyzed. From the story:One tiny brain cell is all it takes to restore voluntary movement of paralysed muscles, scientists in the United States reported Wednesday. In experiments pointing to new treatments for paralysis caused by spinal cord injury or stroke, monkeys learned within minutes to harness the power of a single neuron to activate muscles immobilised by drugs. There are some 100 billion neurons in the human brain, and the study suggests an unsuspected degree of flexibility in the kinds of tasks they can perform. One of the first scientists t... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1879759 Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:03:00 +0100 1879759 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1829055&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F09%2Fgenetically-altering-pigs-to-find-cure.html This is an example of how animal research can lead to tremendous alleviation of human suffering. Pigs are being genetically altered to have CF and cloned for use in research. From the story:Cystic fibrosis (CF) is triggered when a person inherits two copies of a faulty gene carried by about one in 25 of the population. The disorder causes widespread damage to internal organs, especially the lungs and gut, by clogging them with thick, sticky mucus.Now a team at the University of Missouri has developed a pig which appears to closely mimic the disease. The striking similarities suggest that the pigs will help improve understanding and may also speed discovery of new treatments.Animal rights activists would say that the pigs lives are as important and valuable as all those people with cystic f... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1829055 Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:45:00 +0100 1829055 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1700583&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F08%2Fmore-proof-of-need-for-animal-research.html As if it were really needed, here is further proof that animal research is absolutely necessary to the alleviation of human suffering and finding treatments for terrible afflictions: Scientsts have been able to recreate Alzheimer's disease in mouse models which will permit the affliction to be studied in ways that could never be done in living humans. From the story: A common form of dementia has been artificially reproduced for the first time, in a move experts have hailed as a "crucial breakthrough" in our understanding of the disease. The development allows scientists the first ever opportunity to map the onset of the disease, similar to Alzheimer's, and track how drugs affect it...By creating the same damage to the brain in mice, the scientists, led by Professor John Mayer, at the Univ... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1700583 Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:50:00 +0100 1700583 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1668314&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F07%2Fanimal-researcher-on-air.html Our friend P. Michael Conn, Associate Director and Senior Scientist of the Oregon National Primate Research Center, was interviewed on the radio about his fine book The Animal Research War. (Before the interview begins, the hosts discuss the best time to eat sushi and the genetic makeup and expression of dogs.) Then, Dr. Conn explains the importance of animals in research and the terrorism to which he and other researchers have been subjected. From the interview: There is a very real and very violent war going on right now against animal research. It's almost invisible in the media...We want people to know that these extremist groups are having a strangling effect on drug development; things we need so desperately...We are in the middle, we are the welfarists, we want the best things for a... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1668314 Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:53:00 +0100 1668314 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1639000&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F07%2Fbreakthrough-animal-parts-and-organs-to.html If this is true, it is huge. A breakthrough in preventing tissue rejection may permit animal parts and organs to be transplanted into humans--a process known as xenotransplantation. From the story:Blood vessels, tendons and bladders from animals are to be used in humans for the first time after a breakthrough in transplant surgery.Scientists have overcome the problem of rejection, which has previously prevented animal tissues from being used in patients. It opens the way for a range of new procedures using animal parts.Children could be given pigs' heart valves that can grow with them, avoiding the need for repeated surgery; tissues such as ligaments, which have previously been difficult or impossible to repair, could be replaced; and eye patients could even be provided with new corneas.By... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1639000 Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:25:00 +0100 1639000 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1508122&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F06%2Fanimal-research-war.html As regular readers of SHS know, I am appalled by the terroristic assault on intellectual freedom and the rule of law by animal rights thugs against medical researchers. Delusionally thinking themselves akin to Gandhi and Martin Luther King, these nihilists commit arson, burglary, theft, blackmail, assault, and threats of murder (only threats, so far) against people trying to find cures for cancer, treat blindness, and otherwise prevent human harm.Now, two researchers P. Michael Conn and James V. Parker, tell us what it is like to be on the receiving end of this orc-treatment in their fine newly released book The Animal Research War. One of the disturbing things about this issue has been the tendency to hang medical researchers out to dry rather than confront those whose howling fury threat... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1508122 Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:28:00 +0100 1508122 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1388877&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F04%2Fblind-can-see.html As I keep saying, most biotechnology is not controversial. This is amazing: Scientists have restored site with a bionic eye. From the story:Surgeons have carried out the first operations in Britain using a pioneering “bionic eye” that could in future help to restore blind people’s sight. Two successful operations to implant the device into the eyes of two blind patients have been conducted at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.The device--the first of its kind--incorporates a video camera and transmitter mounted on a pair of glasses. This is linked to an artificial retina, which transmits moving images along the optic nerve to the brain and enables the patient to discriminate rudimentary images of motion, light and dark... Linda Moorfoot is one of a few American patients to be fitted ... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1388877 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 04:21:00 +0100 1388877 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1347271&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F04%2Fanimal-research-necessary-to-scientific.html One of the things that drives me up a wall is what I call post modernist advocacy, in which narratives, rather than facts, drive the debate. Animal rights, and its assertions about animal research, is a classic case in point.There are actually two themes found in animal rights advocacy on this issue, only one of which is wholly post modernistic. Some advocates, like Gary Francione, admit that we benefit from animal research (although he diminishes the extent), but claim that we should eschew these advances for wholly ethical reasons, e.g., animals are sentient, hence they have a right not to be property, hence to use them instrumentally is morally wrong. I disagree with this argument but respect it because it is in keeping with the exceptional capacity of humans to engage in moral reasonin... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1347271 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:07:00 +0100 1347271 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1344107&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F04%2Fgood-example-of-why-animal-research-is.html Botox has been out for a long time, but it might need another look as to its safety thanks to a study done in rats on a related substance. From the story:Botulinum neurotoxin type A, sold as Allergan Inc.'s Botox remedy for wrinkles, can move from its injection site to the brain, a study shows. Scientists injected rats' whisker muscles with botulism toxin. Tests of the rodents' brain tissue found that botulism had been transported to the brain stems, the researchers said in the Journal of Neuroscience published April 2. Botox is Allergan's biggest product, with $1.21 billion in sales last year. The drug, approved in 1989, became fashionable among aging celebrities seeking to smooth facial wrinkles and is used to treat some neurological disorders. The U.S. Food and Drug Administ... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1344107 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:04:00 +0100 1344107 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1213190&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F02%2Fscientists-use-fish-to-observe-cancer.html No doubt the ALF will want to make up some Molotov cocktails and start threatening to murder scientists' children: Biotechnologists have engineered transparent fish to observe how cancer grows and spreads. From the story: A transparent zebrafish has been engineered to allow scientists to watch how cancers develop and behave inside the body in real time. Each internal organ of the fish and its bones can be seen clearly throughout its life. Observations have shown already that the spread of cancer cells is not random--they home in on a particular area.Researchers who bred the transparent fish at the Children’s Hospital, Boston, in the United States, were able to watch as melanoma cells left the abdominal cavity and made directly for the skin, where the disease took hold. Before the innovat... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1213190 Thu, 07 Feb 2008 02:39:00 +0100 1213190 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1204689&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F224914341%2Freducing-use-of-animals-in-research.html It's cool when science turns its methods back on itself to improve its own methods. In some ways you could argue that this is what science is about, anyway; but sometimes, there's a more obvious... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1204689 Tue, 05 Feb 2008 03:16:10 +0100 1204689 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1199778&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F02%2Fneed-to-use-animals-in-research.html The attackers of animal research take two paths toward attempting to end it--one of which I respect but with which I profoundly disagree--and the other which I neither respect nor accept. The argument that I think is wrong but respect (epitoimzed by Gary Francione), admits that scientific research with animals can benefit people--although the extent of benefit is generally downplayed. Their argument is primarily ethical; that regardless of the scientific knowledge obtained, or indeed, potential medical treatments derived, it is morally wrong to use a sentient being as an instrumentality in research.Others claim that animal research offers no benefits to humans, and indeed is harmful. This criticism is patently false and anti-empirical as well as (in my view) wrongheaded from an ethical per... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1199778 Mon, 04 Feb 2008 19:41:00 +0100 1199778 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1174835&cid=t_165095_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F01%2Forgan-transplant-breakthrough-again.html The wonderful adult stem cell advance that has liberated some organ transplant patients from anti-rejection drugs--which I posted about here--is yet another illustration of the ongoing need to use animals in medical research. From the story:[Dr. David] Sachs first tried this approach successfully on mice, pigs, then monkeys. In 1998, he won approval to try his treatment on a select group of Mass. General patients with severe kidney failure, all of whom were offered matching kidneys from close relatives. When these six patients did well, Sachs moved on to the most ambitious test of his method, trying it out on patients with mismatched donors. Consider what this means: mice, pigs, and monkeys had healthy organs removed and received organs from other animals euthanized for the purpose. As unp... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1174835 Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:59:00 +0100 1174835