Animal experiments increase again

13 July 2011 Last updated at 15:50 GMT GM animals and "harmful mutant" animals largely account for the rise The number of animal experiments carried out in the UK rose by 3% last year, according to government figures.

The rise was largely due to an increase in the use of genetically modified (GM) and mutant animals, a trend that shows no signs of abating.

The news comes as campaigners warn a new EU directive threatens standards of welfare for UK lab animals.

They argue that a number of the directive's regulations fall short of those already in place in the UK.

Just over 3.7 million scientific experiments on animals were started in Great Britain in 2010, an increase of 105,000 on the previous year.

The statistics show that breeding to produce genetically modified (GM) animals and harmful mutants (an animal with potentially harmful genetic defects) rose by 87,000 to 1.6 million procedures.

This rise, mainly due to the increased breeding of mice and fish, represents an increase of 6%.

Two-thirds of the genectically modified animals used are bred to maintain stocks and set up genetic crosses, and so are not directly used in experiments.

The growing numbers of fish used in experiments are down to the increasing relience of zebrafish, which are transparent and therefore very useful for studying how bones and other tissues develop.

When GM animals are excluded from the statistics, the total number of procedures rose by 18,000, from 2.09 million to 2.10 million.

Home Office minister Lynn Featherstone commented: "The figures released today once again show the important work being done in this country to regulate animal procedures and ensure the highest standards of animal protection are upheld.

"The UK has one of the most rigorous systems in the world to ensure that animal research and testing is strictly regulated."

Neurobiologist Roger Morris at King's College London stressed that whenever possible scientists studied diseases in a dish, in an effort to avoid the use animals. But when studying the effects of a disease on the entire body, he said, there was currently no alternative to using an animal model.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Animals (RSPCA) has warned that a new EU directive could threaten this system.

"The RSPCA is deeply concern and very disappointed that the numbers of animals used in research and testing has gone up yet again," said Penny Hawkins, senior scientific officer at the RSPCA.

It says that if the UK chooses to amend its own regulations in line with the minimum requirements of the directive, some animals could be allowed to suffer "severe" pain or suffering.

Dr Maggy Jennings, head of the RSPCA's research animals department, said: "Successive governments have made proud claims that the UK has 'the highest standards in the world' for animal research and testing.

"Now they seem prepared to weaken this legislation and take a step backwards on lab animal welfare."

However, Martin Walsh, head of the Home Office's Animals Scientific Procedures Division, said: "The directive does allow us to keep the higher UK standards that we currently have. It is not going to reduce the protection of animals in the UK."

The way experiments/procedures were counted /defined changed under the terms of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986

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Smallpox decision deferred again

24 May 2011 Last updated at 13:03 GMT The viral disease was eradicated over 30 years ago A decision on when to destroy the last known stocks of live smallpox virus has been put off for another three years.

The World Health Organization (WHO) agreed to resume the discussion in 2014, following debate this week at its annual meeting.

Countries were divided on the issue at the 64th World Health Assembly.

Iran led opposition to a plan backed by the US and Russia to set a date for destruction in 2016.

Continue reading the main story Caused by the variola virusThe virus originated over 3,000 years ago in India or EgyptSymptoms include fever, muscle pain, headache, tiredness and the distinctive rashIt killed 30% of those infectedMore than 300 million people were thought to have died from smallpox in the 20th century aloneUp to 80% of survivors were marked with deep pitted scars, mostly on the faceThere has been a lot of discussion around the smallpox issue," Pierre Formenty of the WHO told a news briefing in Geneva.

"Three years from now, we will resume the discussion."

The issue was first discussed at the Assembly in 1986 and has been the source of debate ever since.

Destroying the remaining stocks of variola, or small pox virus, is seen by some countries as the final chapter in eradicating the disease to prevent the risk of accidental release.

Others, including the US and Russia, argue for more research in case smallpox returns, possibly as a biological weapon.

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Paralysed man can move legs again

19 May 2011 Last updated at 23:42 GMT By James Gallagher Health reporter, BBC News Mr Summers: ''The moment I stood up, I was in disbelief''

A US man who was paralysed from the chest down after being hit by a car is now able to stand with electrical stimulation of his spinal cord.

Rob Summers, from Oregon, said standing on his own was "the most amazing feeling".

He can voluntarily move his toes, hips, knees and ankles and also walk on a treadmill while being supported, according to research in the Lancet.

However, a UK expert said this should not be interpreted as a cure.

Rob Summers is able to stand while his spinal cord is stimulated

Rob was a keen baseball player and in 2006 was part of the team which won the College World Series.

But in that summer he was injured in a hit and run accident and his spinal cord was damaged.

Messages from the brain, which used to travel down the spinal cord, were blocked and he was paralysed.

Doctors surgically implanted 16 electrodes into his spine.

Rob trained daily in trying to stand, walk and move his legs, while electrical pulses were sent to the spinal cord.

Within days he was able to stand independently and eventually he could control his legs and step, with assistance, for short periods of time.

"None of us believed it," said Professor Reggie Edgerton, from the University of California. "I was afraid to believe it."

Continue reading the main story

In most spinal cord injuries only a small amount of the tissue is damaged so many nerve cells remain.

The researchers say these cells pick up signals from the legs and respond automatically. This is what allows a healthy person to stand still or walk without actively thinking about it and it is this process the doctors were trying to tap into.

But after a spinal injury the cells need help, in this case precise electric stimulation.

It mimics a message from the brain to start moving and changes the "mood" of the spinal cord so that it is able to hear the information which is coming in from the legs and respond. Researchers say this, coupled with intensive training, allowed Rob to stand or walk while supported on a treamill.

The researchers admit to having "no idea" about how the brain was also able to gain direct control of the toes, knee and hips.

They speculate that some nerve cells are being reactivated or maybe more of them are being created allowed signals from the brain to pass down the spinal cord.

Rob has also regained other functions such as bladder, bowel and blood pressure control.

He said it had been a "long journey of countless hours of training" which had "completely changed my life".

He added: "For someone who for four years was unable to even move a toe, to have the freedom and ability to stand on my own is the most amazing feeling."

Warning

This study has proved that electrical stimulation works in one person. Four more patients are being lined up to further test the treatment.

Professor Geoffrey Raisman, from the Institute of Neurology at UCL, said: "This one case is interesting, and from one of the leading groups in the world. To what extent this procedure could in the future provide a further and sustained improvement cannot be judged on the basis of one patient.

"From the point of view of people currently suffering from spinal cord injury, future trials of this procedure could add one more approach to getting some benefit. It is not and does not claim to be a cure."

Dr Melissa Andrews, from the Cambridge Centre for Brain Repair, said that while the study was a "little bit mind blowing" people should not say this is a cure.

She added: "I think people need to read this and say the possibility is out there, but it may not come tomorrow. It's the closest we've ever seen and it's the best hope right now."

Professor Susan Harkema, who was part of the study at the University of Louisville, said: "It is really critical to be clear that it's still in a research realm, but stay tuned we're going to learn a lot more every day."

For Rob he sees his story as a message of hope to people who are paralysed and as for walking again: "I see it as a major possibility."

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