News Feature

News from EARA

This page contains all the news outputs from EARA, including press releases and videos, EARA policy and news briefings, plus opinion pieces and significant media articles.

Other pages in this section explain more about EARA on social media and practical information for journalists.

Opinion: Trying to make sense of animal sentience – the first task for the UK Parliament

Bob Tolliday

May 20
4 min

Opinion: Trying to make sense of animal sentience – the first task for the UK Parliament

The UK government’s proposal to legislate on what constitutes a ‘sentient being’ could create more problems than it solves. Ann Furedi,...

China's ban on research monkey exports hits vaccine testing

Bob Tolliday

Feb 18
6 min

China's ban on research monkey exports hits vaccine testing

An article has appeared in the Spanish publication Quo setting out the concerns of the European biomedical community about the current...

Feature: Making vaccines safe - animal testing plays a vital part

Becky Jones

Dec 22, 2020
5 min

Feature: Making vaccines safe - animal testing plays a vital part

While basic research using animals gave scientists a greater understanding of the Covid-19 virus, such as its structure and genetic...

Crisis plans help animal facilities respond to the coronavirus pandemic

Ana Barros

Apr 11, 2020
3 min

Crisis plans help animal facilities respond to the coronavirus pandemic

Andreas Lengeling, the animal research and welfare officer for the Max Planck Society, in Germany, looks at the steps many institutions...

Drug trial breakthrough shows that Ebola is ‘no longer incurable’

Ana Barros

Sep 17, 2019
4 min

Drug trial breakthrough shows that Ebola is ‘no longer incurable’

EARA Executive Director, Kirk Leech, looks at the remarkable progress in biomedical research in the search for a cure for Ebola virus...

Animal research – a debate between a primate researcher and an opponent

Bob Tolliday

Mar 5, 2019
7 min

Animal research – a debate between a primate researcher and an opponent

A moderated debate between Prof. Stefan Treue, (pictured below) animal physiologist, neuroscientist and director of the German Primate...

The last airline flying – Lab Animal column

Bob Tolliday

Feb 24, 2019
1 min

The last airline flying – Lab Animal column

The March issue of Lab Animal magazine features an Outreach column written by Kirk Leech, our Executive Director. In this month’s column,...

Bob Tolliday

Jan 8, 2019
4 min

Vaccines Save Lives

The World Health Organisation (WHO) calls on European policymakers, health care workers and parents to increase vaccination efforts...

Bob Tolliday

Jan 8, 2019
3 min

Three cheers for China’s cloned monkeys

It’s likely that you have heard of ‘Dolly’ the sheep, famously announced as the first mammal ever to be successfully cloned, in February...

Bob Tolliday

Nov 15, 2018
3 min

Opinion: Making sense of sentience

With a draft UK Animal Welfare Bill looking to put the concept of ‘animal sentience”directly into law and an ongoing debate about the...

Ebola vaccine in use thanks to ‘curiosity-driven’ basic research

Bob Tolliday

Nov 11, 2018
2 min

Ebola vaccine in use thanks to ‘curiosity-driven’ basic research

There was no known widespread outbreaks of Ebola when the vaccine was developed 15 years ago using animals, says Kirk Leech, EARA...

On Lab Animal Day, Belgian science unites in support of animal research

Bob Tolliday

Aug 15, 2016
3 min

On Lab Animal Day, Belgian science unites in support of animal research

This blog was also published on Huffington Post UK. World Day for Laboratory Animals on 24 April was originally established by animal...

Panel Discussion: Effectiveness and reliability of alternative methods used for regulatory purposes

Bob Tolliday

Jan 27, 2016
4 min

Panel Discussion: Effectiveness and reliability of alternative methods used for regulatory purposes

On December 1 of last year the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA) celebrated its tenth anniversary...

Why People Are Wrong to Oppose the New UK Beagle Breeding Facility

Bob Tolliday

Aug 19, 2015
4 min

Why People Are Wrong to Oppose the New UK Beagle Breeding Facility

Where do medicines come from? It’s not a question most of us bother with when we take advantage of the huge array of medical treatments...

Amendments to the European Directive 2010/63 in Italy have a huge impact in my research

Bob Tolliday

Aug 12, 2015
3 min

Amendments to the European Directive 2010/63 in Italy have a huge impact in my research

Riccardo Avvisati is a PhD student at Sapienza University of Rome, studying the influences of the environment on drug of abuse in a...

Bob Tolliday

Aug 11, 2015
4 min

A Researcher’s Perspective

This post is a translation of a Dutch blog that was originally published on the Faces of Science website on March 12, 2015. Marieke...

Bob Tolliday

Jul 27, 2015
7 min

Serendipity and Animal Research

Dr. Alberto Ferrari is a member of the managing board and of the scientific Committee of Pro-Test Italia, an association dedicated to...

Bob Tolliday

Jun 16, 2015
5 min

It’s All About the Animals

The following guest post is by Richard Marble RLATg, CMAR, Laboratory Animal Facility Coordinator at Ferris State University. In this...

Why I do Animal Research – Lars Dittrich, PhD, Neurobiologist

Bob Tolliday

Feb 13, 2015
4 min

Why I do Animal Research – Lars Dittrich, PhD, Neurobiologist

Lately, I came across a number of campaigns that called for an end of animal research in Germany. Some had a factual appearance, like the...