Un prix Nobel anti- vivisection? Peu d'espoir!
Goodall va proposer aujourd'hui qu'un Nobel de la recherche médicale
sans expérimentation animale soit créé.
Le président de la foundation dit que c'est hors de question. Gore
avait suggéré il y a + ou - 15 ans la création d'1 Nobel de la
protection de l'environnement. Sa suggestion avait été rejetée.
____________
Goodall urges Nobel prize for sparing lab animals
The Guardian - Wednesday May 28 2008
The primatologist Dr Jane Goodall will today propose that a Nobel
prize be set up for advancing medical knowledge without
experimentation on animals. The scientist, who pioneered research on
chimpanzees in the wild, says moving away from animal research is
a "goal towards which all civilised nations should be moving".
She will speak at an event organised by animal rights groups and MEPs
to put pressure on the European commission to review directive
86/609, which governs animal research across the EU.
"As we move into the 21st century we need a new mind-set," she
said. "We should admit that the infliction of suffering on beings who
are capable of feeling is ethically problematic and that the amazing
human brain should set to work to find new ways of testing and
experimenting that will not involve the use of live, sentient beings.
"The scientific establishment should actively encourage such
research. More funding should be made available for it. And rewards -
such as a Nobel prize - should be given for it."
She will also advocate a centre of excellence to develop alternatives
to animal research. About 12m animals were used in experiments in
2005. The vast majority were mice and rats.
Goodall's suggestion of a Nobel prize looks unlikely to succeed. Only
one has been added - the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 1968 -
since the scientific accolades were first awarded in 1901. About 15
years ago the former US vice-president Al Gore approached the Nobel
Foundation to suggest an award for contributions to environmentalism.
Michael Sohlman, president of the foundation, said the organisation
politely turned him down. Adding a prize for alternatives to animal
testing was "out of the question", Sohlman said.
Scientists argue that research using animals has contributed to
advances in many fields including antibiotics, anaesthetics,
vaccines, insulin for diabetes, open heart surgery, kidney dialysis
and transplants. They say that animal research is highly regulated in
the UK, with both the lab where research is carried out and the
specific project needing a licence from the Home Office. They also
point out that the high cost of animal testing is a strong incentive
for researchers to use alternatives where possible.
But Green MEP Caroline Lucas said alternatives were not being
developed fast enough. "What we want to see in there very clearly is
a strategy that will move us away from animal experiments and include
more up to date, effective alternatives,
far more resources put into developing them and getting them on to
the market."
http://www.guardian
csofscience?