Missouri Stem Cell update with linx;
This work is in the public domain
Here's what many people of conscioussness may hear from any given U.S. court in the coming months;
"You are guilty of violating the animal enterprise act."
Of course the origin for this animal enterprise act that violates human and civil rights is none other than the GW bush regime, those who profit the greatest from animal research are none other than the megacorporations (PHARMA, petrochemical, beef/dairy, etc..) that heavily finance the coffers of the right wing corporatists in the GW Bush/Cheney regime..
"Legal provisions recently unveiled on both sides of the Atlantic have augmented protections for pharmaceutical interests and other institutions that use animals. This year, six anti-vivisection activists were found guilty of federal charges over an interstate campaign -- encompassing arson threats, and vandalism by the Animal Liberation Front’s “Commando Division” -- that violated the Animal Enterprise Protection Act. That law, originally passed in 1992, was strengthened after the events of September 11, 2001 in response to heavy lobbying from animal-testing firms and pharmaceutical companies."
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http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Oct06/Hall31.htm No human being has been injured by either ELF or ALF actions, corporate property vandalism is only liberating material to it's original physical state, sort of like recycling. Ironically the same petrochemical industries that make people physically ill, (thus 'requiring' animal testing) experiments with human health with pharma treatments like chemotherapy are inaccurate and ineffective, not to mention cruel to animals..
"The animal rights movement has lobbied for years against animal experimentation on moral and ethical grounds, but the scientific evidence against vivisection is far stronger. Researchers who put their careers on the line and publicly admit that animal-based models are inaccurate for evaluating the effects of drugs in humans are encouraged or forced to be silent in a billion-dollar industry.
Two such researchers are Dr Ray Greek, an American anaesthesiologist, and his wife, Jean Swingle Greek, a veterinary dermatologist. Both are ex-vivisectors who have studied medical and scientific literature which is largely unavailable and inscrutable to the public. Using the industry's own data, they expose in their new book, Sacred Cows and Golden Geese: The Human Cost of Animal Experimentation, how we are kept in the dark about the dangers to our health from animal experiments.
WHY ANIMAL MODELS ARE NOT PREDICTIVE
Open up a rat, a dog, a pig and a human and you will find much the same terrain, but with differences. But it is precisely these differences which have an impact when it comes to assimilating drugs. For example, rats, the species most commonly used in vivisection, have no gall bladder and excrete bile very effectively.
"Many drugs are excreted via bile, so this affects the half-life of the drug," explain Ray and Jean Greek. "Drugs bind to rat plasma much less efficiently. Rats always breathe through the nose. Because some chemicals are absorbed in the nose, some are filtered. So rats get a different mix of substances entering their systems. Also, they are nocturnal. Their gut flora are in a different location. Their skin has different absorptive properties than that of humans. Any one of these discrepancies will alter drug metabolism."
These differences are only on a gross level. Medications act on a microscopic level, initiating or interrupting chemical reactions that are far too small for the human eye to observe.
"We differ on the cellular level and molecular level and, importantly, that is where disease occurs," the authors explain. "The cells of chimps are very similar to [the cells of] humans, but the spatial organisation of the cells is vastly different."
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http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/animaltesting.html The very answer that could render the cruel legacy of animal testing obsolete is also being outlawed by the right wing elements of the GW bush regime based on 'religious reasons'. Human stem cell reasearch is far more accurate because human stem cells are being tested instead of the biological systems of other species (ie., rats are resistant to brand X, humans develop cancer from brand X). Since animal testing for products is the dominant research in the U.S., many products that are harmful to human health are released into the market..
In fact, if animal research were replaced by human stem cell research, many petrochemically derived products would be taken off the shelf as they are potential carcinogens, endocrine disrupters. Rats and other animals are far more tolerant of toxins than are human cells..
This 10/07/06 election those concerned about humans, animals and the greater ecosystem can vote in Missouri for allowing research on embryonic human stem cells. This isn't pro-GMO/GE abuse of science by corporations, but a greater accuracy in medical research..
"We're the official coalition of patient groups, medical organizations and citizens supporting Amendment 2: The Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative. This important measure on the November 2006 statewide ballot:
- ensures that Missouri patients will have equal access to any federally approved stem cell cures that are available to other Americans;
- ensures that Missouri medical institutions can provide and help find those cures; and
- creates responsible ethical guidelines for stem cell research – including a strict ban on any attempt to clone a human being."
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http://www.missouricures.com/
This in response to comments on St. Louis imc that voting for legalizing human stem cell research will somehow prevent people from supporting ALF..
Any legalization of human stem cell research will not end animal testing overnight..
For the moment, supporting ALF methods of direct action will be the most effective method at stopping animal testing case by case. However, the legalization of human stem cell research can and will reduce the amount of animal testing over time..
"The use of animals as models for the development of human medications and disease almost always fails, simply because humans and animals have different physiologies.
Adult stem cell research is more effective than animal testing because there are no complications or failures related to tissue rejection. In fact, international researchers using adult stem cells - cells that are present in all growing human tissue - have shown success in treating cardiac infarction, Crohn's disease and thalassemia. The answers to the mysteries of Parkinson's and Alzheimer's will be found by using stem cells and other modern technologies, not by cutting up beagles.
Most Americans tolerate vivisection because they believe that it is a necessary evil. It is evil, but it's not necessary. Whether vivisection is morally right or wrong no longer matters: It is as obsolete as eight-track tapes, telegrams and bloodletting. It is time the public stopped funding this antiquated science, through tax dollars and research and development costs imbedded in prescription prices.
It may even be time to consider lawsuits aimed at pharmaceutical companies that continue to profit by charging patients, insurance companies and the state and federal governments for medications and treatments based on such flawed and antiquated research. These lawsuits could rival the tobacco lawsuits of the past decade, with individuals and states seeking damages for the cost of caring for those killed or disabled by dangerous medicines."
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http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/ar-stop.html The research on stem cells is ongoing in other countries outside the U.S., and results indicate that animal testing is outdated..
There's no reason that animal rights activists cannot do two things simultaneously, maintain support for ALF AND also vote to legalize human stem cell research with the long range goal of phasing out animal testing..
"Cologne-based physician Heribert Bohlen said a test he developed using stem cells from mice can offer "at least the same amount of information about the possible toxic effects on unborn human life as experiments on mice, rabbits, rats and guinea pigs," Deutsche Welle reported.
In addition to saving animal lives, Bohlen said tests using the new stem-cell technology are more economical than conventional animal experiments.
The newspaper said SUV Rheinland Group and the company Axiogenesis developed the R.E.Tox method. The developers claim that the method can show whether or not a substance damages fetal human cells or hinders their development.
Animal welfare activists say they are happy when animals' lives can be saved, regardless of the number, but they emphasize that widespread testing on animals still continues, the newspaper said."
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http://www.physorg.com/news66391852.html