Posted by Emu under blog's category : Research & medical benefits

Antivivisectionists have spoken out against giving dogs with cancer a new cancer drug. Nedim Buukmichi, a vet speaking for the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, told New Scientist 'This raises serious concerns with respect to what the dogs may have to endure'. This bizarre standpoint sems to run counter to the veterinarian's oath. These trials could save dogs' lives, give hope to dog owners, and provide research data that otherwise would be obtained by studying animals in laboratories.

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Posted by Emu under blog's category : Research & medical benefits

Transgenic mice have been used in research for the last 20 years, and have made significant contributions to biomedical research. Last week scientists in Japan produced the first transgenic monkeys.

The findings, reported in Nature, have important implications for studying genetically inherited diseases.

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Posted by Zebedee under blog's category : Research & medical benefits

The US Food and Drug Administration last week approved the first medicine made with materials from genetically engineered animals. CBC News said it cleared the way for a new class of medical therapies, athough the medicine received European approval back in 2006.

ATryn is made using milk from GM goats that produce extra antithrombin, a protein that acts as a natural blood thinner. It is approved for patients with a rare hereditary disorder that causes a deficiency of antithrombin, putting them at higher risk of deadly blood clots.

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Posted by Zebedee under blog's category : Research & medical benefits

The Guardian today carries an article on the ‘top 10' scientific breakthroughs of 2008, named by the leading scientific journal Science. At number one is the ‘feat of biological alchemy' that offers scientists the hope of growing replacement organs from patients' own skin cells.

Research in mice published just over a year ago showed that adult cells could be transformed into stem cells that could be made to regenerate all kinds of tissue to treat diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or diabetes. The insights from the mouse work on so-called iPS cells were blogged at the time by our friends over at Pro-Test.

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