In the Media

The U.S. congress FDA Modernization Act 2.0 adoption caused a stir globally by not requiring anymore animal testing for developing drugs. This is big step forward and marks the beginning of the transition towards modern, animal-free toxicity testing process.

Celia Rodriguez at the University of Aberdeen, is developing a humanised ‘on-a-chip’ system to predict the likelihood of different types of breast cancer spreading. Celia recently presented a scientific poster illustrating her research progress in growing breast cells in animal free conditions at The British Association for Cancer Research Conference.

The conventional drug development system is lengthy, costly, and ineffective as it relies on animal research that fails to predict human reactions to new drugs. This is reflected by high failure rates – consistently over 92% of new drugs, which appeared safe and effective in animal tests, fail in human clinical trials.

One of the students we are currently supporting through the lifETIME CDT, Lauren Hope, recently authored a blog describing how she took time out of her PhD research at Glasgow University for a three-month placement with Animal Free Research UK.

Sometimes the likelihood of a study being published is affected not by the results, but by the approach of the study. Animal Method Bias falls into this category: it is described as a preference for animal-based methods, which affects the likelihood of a study being accepted for publication.

This pioneering UK Helpathon represents the first step towards the goal of a network of international Helpathons under one umbrella. This would connect collaborators and ideas to each other, helping to create a world where human diseases are cured faster without animal suffering.