Posted by Emu under blog's category : Communications & media

Tomorrow the film Extraordinary Measures will be released in UK cinemas. Based on a true story, it is a fictionalised account of the development of a treatment for a type of progressive inherited muscle weakness called Pompe disease.

The film follows parents John and Aileen Crowley. When their two youngest children are diagnosed with Pompe disease, they do everything they can to find a treatment. John co-forms a biotech company to focus on developing a life-saving drug, and along the way he enlists the help of Dr Robert Stonehill. Whilst the film has almost certainly been given the ‘Hollywood treatment' the true story is equally remarkable, and laboratory animals are the stars.

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Posted by Zebedee under blog's category : Antivivisection & extremism

In a febrile atmosphere, a 'panel discussion' took place on a Californian campus earlier this week between antivivisectionists and research advocates. The discussion and its participants had been threatened by animal rights extremists. One of the antivivisectionists on the panel, Ray Greek, earlier posted a long polemic about their attempts to scupper the discussion.

While the panellists on both sides seemed convinced that dialogue is key to dealing with extremism, there was little meeting of minds on the central question of animal research.

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Posted by Emu under blog's category : Policy Issues

On Wednesday, the House of Lords ‘took note' of a committee report into the revision of the EU Directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. This meant that the report was formally discussed and debated by interested parties within the Lords chamber. It was initially raised for debate by Lord Carter of Coles, and in total nine peers spoke of their thoughts in relation to both the revisions to the Directive and the commission report.

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Posted by Emu under blog's category : Policy Issues

This month has seen publication of the long-awaited Hampton Implementation Review Report for the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Division and Inspectorate.

The review examines the work of the Animal Sceintific Procedures Division (ASPD) and Inspectorate (ASPI), which are both part of the Home Office's Science and Research Group (SRG). Throughout the report the organisation as a whole is referred to as ASP). We believe the Review provides positive guidelines for the Home Office to take forward in future.

The Review is part of a national process which looks at the work of 36 regulators. The Reports assess how well regulators are following the principles set out by Sir Philip Hampton in 2005. The Hampton principles cover better regulation and encourage best practice by increasing openness and transparency, highlighting areas for development, and spreading good practice to other regulators.

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