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News Archive
Hope Against Hype. Animal Experiments to Cure Cancer?
The prospect of a cure for cancer has yet again been hitting
the headlines in the last month.
Two new drugs which appear to kill tumours by cutting off their blood
supply have been tested in mice with apparent effect. Although many of
the articles describing this "breakthrough" have noted the obstacles
still facing this treatrment, the tone of the media reaction has been
the usual "cancer cure on the way." Meanwhile, more animal tests
appear to indicate that a single gene is responsible for the development
of lung cancer.
One scientist - not directly connected with the research - claimed that
the US research on killing tumours could lead to a "cure for cancer
within two years", a claim so outrageous even the cancer research
community disowned it. The gap between a treatment that appears successful
in laboratory animals and a usable clinical therapy is, of course, enormous.
About five years ago another substance that cut off the blood supply to
tumours in mice, flavone acetic acid, generated similar hopes. It did
not work in human beings. This one may work, of course - despite the many
differences between mouse and human tumours, the physiological differences
between humans and mice, differing conditions outside the laboratory from
within it, the possibility of serious side effects not detected in animal
studies, the differing requirements for dosage and administration in human
beings and commercial pressures that prevent many treatments from reaching
the market. If it does, we'll be happy to read about it then.
The lung cancer research, which took place in Scotland, involved the
application of tobacco chemicals to the skin of mice. By knocking out
just one gene the researchers found the likelihood of the mice developing
cancer increased dramatically. This discovery, if it applies to human
beings, suggests the possibility of a technique of screening for susceptibility
for lung cancer, or even of genetic manipulation to prevent it.
80-90% of lung cancers are associated with smoking. Human beings, however,
continue to smoke. Mice do not.
Uncaged Campaigns 29.05.98
Hype Against Hope. Animal Experiments to Cure Obesity?
Experiments on rats have been undertaken in the attempt to find
a "cure" for obesity.
The New Scientist (16/5/98) reports that injections of "fat-busting"
antibodies have caused weight loss in obese rats, even when they were
fed on a diet of milk chocolate and peanuts. Injections under the skin
of pigs has produced leaner bacon. Obesity is another serious medical
problem. It is uncommon among vegetarians.
Uncaged Campaigns 29/05/98
Imutran Still Promising Jam Tomorrow
Leading xenotransplantation researchers Imutran held a press
briefing in April to discuss their plans for the future.
The briefing, which included a contribution from Prof Robin Weiss, an
immunologist who has warned of the dangers of virus transfer, painted
a picture of prudence. They are currently undertaking a retrospective
study of patients who have received pig tissues, such as skin grafts,
to look for evidence of infection in humans by porcine viruses. If this
should produce no evidence of infection they hope to commence a trial
involving pig liver cells outside the body, similar to those which have
been undertaken in the USA. They also hope to undertake kidney transplantation,
but were noncommittal about the timing, finally suggesting five years
down the line when pressed by journalists.
In 1995 Imutran claimed they were ready to proceed to human trials in
early 1996. In October of last year, Alistair Currie of Xenotransplantation
Concern attended a meeting at which one of the surgeons involved in the
research said they could proceed to trials "next week" if the
government would permit them. From the point of view of human welfare
their new found caution is welcome: unfortunately it is likely to lead
to much more animal suffering in the course of pursuing the increasingly
unlikely possibility that xenotransplantation will ever provide an effective
therapy.
Uncaged Campaigns 29.05.98
Xenotransplantation Pig Exported to Holland
It has come to light that Imutran, the UK's leading xenotransplantation
researcher, has been conducting research in a controversial animal laboratory
in Holland, and that it recently exported a transgenic pig to the laboratory
where its organs have been harvested and transplanted into monkeys.
The work being conducted at the Biomedical Research Centre (BPRC) appears
to involve the testing of immunosuppressant regimes, and has been conducted
since at least November 1997 using non-transgenic pigs and macaques. A
transgenic pig (accompanied by a companion animal, slaughtered on arrival)
was flown to Amsterdam in early May, both of its kidneys being removed
after slaughter and transplanted into two macaques whose own kidneys had
been removed.
It appears that Imutran are attempting to circumvent the relatively tough
regulation that applies to their experimental procedures in the United
Kingdom - why else would they undertake such an expensive exercise for
procedures that appear to be the same as those conducted in this country?
The Animal Procedures Committee has explicitly stated that it is willing
to delay the progress of research on animal welfare grounds and a representative
of Imutran admitted in 1997 that British regulations have sometimes prevented
them from concluding experiments as they would wish - ie they have not
been permitted to keep animals alive indefinitely who are suffering substantially.
BPRC has, incidentally, been criticised by groups such as the RSPCA for
the condition in which its primates are kept. This latest development
serves to emphasise how low a priority animal welfare actually takes in
this research.
Uncaged Campaigns 26.06.98
Hillgrove Pressure Grows
Beleagured Hillgrove Farm at Witney does not even enjoy the
support of local residents. A phone poll conducted by the local newspaper
found 95% of callers supporting the call for it to be closed, and local
residents have been complaining that the expense of policing demonstrations
at the farm has led to a reduction in police crime-fighting in the area.
Meanwhile (as they say) documents obtained by the Hillgrove Campaign
have revealed the extent of animal suffering taking place behind the barricades.
The records appear to show cats forced to breed twice a year, an unnaturally
high "wastage" rate of kittens (10% dying or being killed by
their mothers before sale) and the sale of kittens under 8 weeks old.
Farmer Brown has explicitly denied that kittens that young are ever sold
- he has also claimed that 80% of the animals he sells are used in the
development of animal vaccines but the circumstantial evidence is strong
that they are also being used at Oxford University in neurological experiments,
as well as at other universities which do not undertake veterinary research.
The next Hillgrove Demo will take place on 11th July: meet at 12 noon,
Leys Recreation Ground, Station Lane (next to Sainsbury's), Witney, Oxon.
Uncaged Campaigns 26.06.98
Wild-Caught Baboons Used In Xenotransplantation
The answer to a parliamentary question put by Norman Baker MP
has revealed that wild-caught baboons have been used in xenotransplantation
research.
A previous answer by George Howarth of the Home Office, had admitted
that wild-caught baboons were still being used in experiments despite
the need for "exceptional and specific justifications" for their
use. Baboons are the most advanced primate permitted to be used for research
in the UK. Pursuing this answer, Norman Baker asked what these justifications
were. The answer, to Written Question no 176, asserted that baboons had
to be used as no other permitted primate was large enough, and sufficient
quantities of captive-bred baboons were not available, despite "extensive
efforts" by the research team to obtain them from captive sources.
The baboons appear to have been used in heart transplant surgery, as
part of the xenotransplantation research programme, presumably by Imutran,
who are the only researchers undertaking this kind of work in the UK at
present. The suffering of these animals is profound, as they undergo major
surgery and then the consequences of trasnsplant. Imutran's published
research suggests that their experimental subjects tend to survive periods
of weeks following surgery, before, presumably, dying of complications
related to the transplant.
That such suffering should be permitted to be inflicted on any animals
for so speculative a prospect as xenotransplantation is an indictment
of the 1986 Act. That it should be inflicted on animals on top of the
distress of being caught in the wild and transported to this country is
profoundly shocking.
Uncaged Campaigns 04.06.98
Huntingdon Death Sciences Looking A Little Peaky
The price of shares in animal testing laboratory Huntingdon Life
Sciences hit a spectacular low of 15 pence each last month - having been
at 124p just over a year ago. HLS has been implicated in examples of specific
animal cruelty in undercover investigations in both the USA and UK, most
famously in the Channel 4 documentary It's a Dog's Life, screened last
year.
HLS were investigated by the Home Office following the documentary last
year and threatened with removal of their licence. They were given certain
conditions to fulfil in order to avoid that possibility, and did so. The
- far from demanding - conditions related to issues such as staff training.
The individuals featured in the film were ceremoniously scapegoated, being
fired by the company and being prosecuted for "cruelly terrifying
dogs." Even given that the Home Office obviously support animal experiments
their apparent assumption that it is possible to employ people to inflict
pain on animals on a day-to-day basis without them becoming callous or
cruel is breathtakingly naive.
HLS' share price has been declining pretty steadily since the documentary.
Major shareholder Robert Fleming Holdings sold its 15% share in HLS in
June, a move which followed the withdrawal of a number of HLS' major clients,
such as Glaxo Wellcome and Smith & Nephew. While, obviously, these
companies will simply have moved their animal testing contracts elsewhere,
the company appears to be suffering the same kind of scapegoating from
the vivisection community as their employees suffered from them.
The company lost £7.2 million in 1997, and are also contemplating
having to redeem bonds in 2006 which they issued in 1991 and are now worth
far more than the company itself. Chief Executive Christopher Cliffe claims
to be "quietly confident" about the company's future.
Of course.
Uncaged Campaigns 30.07.98
45 Cows Killed In Illegal Experiment: 120 Hours Community Service As Punishment
A Scottish researcher injected lung and gut parasites into ninety
cows in an unlicenced experiment, and when they started dying simply added
more numbers. Eventually 45 animals died, the experienced researcher from
Glasgow Veterinary School failing to appoint a vet or anyone at all to
take responsibility for their welfare.
The Sheriff trying the case accepted the defence's argument that the
researcher involved was suffering from depression and sentenced him to
120 hours of community service, rather than the six month prison sentence
the law allows.
If a herd of cows receives so little protection from the 1986 Animals
(Scientific Procedures) Act, what chance have the millions of mice and
rats experimented on behind closed laboratory doors?
Uncaged Campaigns 30.07.98
Extension to Animal Breeders
Bantan & Kingman, a commercial breeder of animals for laboratories
has made a planning application to expand their facilities in East Yorkshire.
Their plans include extensions to the animals facility, storage sheds
and a sheep barn, and include the removal of some trees.
Those concerned that the developments will be to the detriment of local
amenities, may be in conflict with local planning policies and may lead
to animal rights protests which may inconvenience the local community
can register their objections with:
Mr Colin Hogg
Development Services Manager
East Riding of |Yorkshire Council
Beverley Sector
Central Hall
Beverley
HU17 9BA
Application numbers 342/1000/2C; 342/1000/2D; 342/1000/2A; 98/01248/PLC.
As usual, complaints from local residents carry the most weight.
Uncaged Campaigns 30.07.98
Eight Million Animals Killed In Laboratories Every Year - "Official"
Extrapolation from figures released earlier this year about the
"wastage" of animals in Ministry of Defence laboratories shows
that the death toll in British laboratories must be between six and eight
million animals per year. This is the first reliable estimate of the total
number of deaths, as the deaths of animals not used in experiments are
not recorded by the Home Office.
John Chisholm, chief executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research
Agency (ie Porton Down) revealed to Norman Baker MP that DERA kills somewhere
between two and three times the number of animals it actually uses in
experiments, and claimed that this proportion was "in line with commercial
operation." As 2.7 million animal procedures are conducted in the
UK each year (a figure roughly analogous to the number of "experimental"
deaths, although even this is not actually recorded) the national figure
must therefore be between six and eight million.
Mr Chisholm explained that strict experimental requirements such as the
age, weight or sex of animals could lead to animals being unsuitable for
experimentation. It has been well known for some time that more animals
are bred in and for laboratories than are actually used, and that these
"surplus" animals were killed.
The horrifying extent of this death toll is further proof that, whatever
the claims to the contrary, animals are nothing but tools in the laboratory:
those unused in experiments are simply expenses to be minimised, at the
cost of their lives. And we must never forget that those unused animals
are the lucky ones. Uncaged Campaigns 01.04.98 |
