Tag Archives: laboratory

New plan to reduce the use of animals in research

Posted on February 14, 2014 by argylesock

Here in Britain, scientists’ use of lab animals is very tightly constrained (my tag ‘lab animal’.) But we want to ‘Replace, Reduce and Refine the Use of Animals in Research’. The Three Rs. Our Department for Business, Innovation & Skills … Continue reading →

Toxic pesticides

Posted on February 5, 2014 by argylesock

Gilles-Eric Séralini is famous for publishing controversial evidence that lab rats (Rattus norvegicus) got tumours after they ate genetically modified (GM, genetically engineered) maize (corn, Zea mays). Prof Séralini’s website explains that the maize was a Roundup Ready crop called … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged biotechnology, cell culture, corn, food safety, genetic modification, glyphosate, herbicide, human, knowledge, lab animal, laboratory, maize, maize MON863, maize NK603, mammal, Monsanto, pesticide, poison, rat, research, rodent, Roundup, Roundup Ready crop, Séralini_Gilles-Eric, tumour, vertebrate | 2 Comments

Animal research, how it is

Posted on October 19, 2013 by argylesock

Understanding Animal Research (UAR) is a British group. It exists ‘to provide all you want to know about animal research, whether you are a concerned member of the public or have a special interest.’ I like UAR’s factual style, a … Continue reading →

Posted in human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged cosmetic, disease, farmer, human, knowledge, lab animal, laboratory, law, livestock, mammal, mouse, primate, research, scientist, vertebrate, welfare | 2 Comments

Vaccinating against tuberculosis (part 1)

Posted on September 12, 2013 by argylesock

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious disease of cattle (Bos primigenius) caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis. It develops slowly but it ends up very nasty. You might choose to follow the ‘tuberculosis’ tag on my blog. Here in Britain … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, ecology, human health | Tagged alien species, bacterium, badger, BCG vaccine, bovine tuberculosis, brushtail possum, cattle, disease, history, human, lab animal, laboratory, law, livestock, marsupial, Mycobacterium bovis, native species, notifiable disease, research, ruminant, tuberculosis, vaccine, veterinary, wildlife, zoonosis | 3 Comments

Jumping species: how good intentions spread diseases

Posted on September 2, 2013 by argylesock

Ian Le Guillou at Understanding Animal Research (UAR) tells us how infectious diseases jump between species. These jumps often happen because of things that humans do. Sometimes, the disease jumps to us. Diseases that can infect humans and also other … Continue reading →

Posted in ecology, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged alien species, amphibian, apicomplexan, arthropod, bacterium, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, crop, disease, emerging disease, fungus, human, lab animal, laboratory, mammal, naturalised species, parasite, pathogen, pest, plant_dicot, plant_gymnosperm, plant_monocot, protozoan, Toxoplasma gondii, tree, vertebrate, zoonosis | 5 Comments

Getting to the grist about GM (part 5)

Posted on August 23, 2013 by argylesock

My fellow blogger applpy at Thought + Food draws attention to a series of articles about genetic modification. That’s GM, also called genetic engineering or GE. It’s a kind of biotechnology. These articles (see my ‘biotechnology’ tag) are by Nathanael … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, human health, knowledge transfer | Tagged allergy, biotechnology, child, food safety, genetic modification, human, hygiene, immunity, in silico, in vitro, in vivo, Johnson_Nathanael, lab animal, laboratory, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, research | 2 Comments

Electric cars and bacterial plastics

Posted on July 16, 2013 by argylesock

We need to get better at using organisms. Organisms are alive so they can breed. That is, they’re renewable. Some of them can be used in ways that, people claim, are sustainable. That is, using some organisms is supposed to … Continue reading →

Posted in knowledge transfer, miniculture | Tagged allotment, bacterium, biobased industry, car, compost, fuel, garden, knowledge, laboratory, plastic, renewable, soil, sustainable, technology, transport | Leave a comment

When it comes to food, technology won’t save us

Posted on June 30, 2013 by argylesock

argylesock says… Food security isn’t all about GM (genetic modification, GE) and other kinds of biotech. But those can help.

Posted in agriculture, food, horticulture, knowledge transfer | Tagged access to land, agroecology, biofuel, biotechnology, cattle, crop, development, feed, food, food security, food waste, fuel, genetic modification, laboratory, livestock, mammal, marker assisted selection, meat, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, population, poverty, research, ruminant, vertebrate | Leave a comment

It’s not natural! Intensive farming, synthetic food and synthetic genes

Posted on June 20, 2013 by argylesock

Is it natural? Whatever ‘it’ might be. We live in a world where genes are synthesised routinely and synthetic food isn’t far away. I don’t think there’s much point even asking about ‘natural’ any more. The US Supreme Court has … Continue reading →

Posted in knowledge transfer | Tagged biotechnology, DNA, farm, food, food quality, gene, genetic modification, intensive, laboratory, law, livestock, meat, research, welfare | 1 Comment

Two thirds of the British public are unaware animal cosmetic testing is illegal in UK

Posted on April 28, 2013 by argylesock

When I mention lab animals, nearly everybody assumes that I’m talking about torturing innocent creatures – shampoo in bunnies’ eyes – but it’s not so. Here in Britain and elsewhere in Europe, that kind of thing has been illegal for … Continue reading →

Posted in human health | Tagged education, human, lab animal, laboratory, law, livestock, pet, research, veterinary, welfare | Leave a comment