Month: June 2014

In 2012, two independent studies found that the FLCN-interacting protein FNIP1 is required for proper β-cell maturation, and were the first studies to suggest a role for FLCN and its partners in the immune system. Following their 2012 discovery that FNIP1 is necessary for β-cell development (Park et al., 2012), the same group decided to … Read more

Last week, the results of a clinical trial testing the effectiveness of topical rapamycin as a treatment for BHD were published in PLOS ONE (Gijezen et al., 2014). The study was performed by Professor Dr Maurice van Steensel’s team at the Maastricht University Medical Centre. 19 patients were enrolled in the trial, and were given two topical … Read more

Following on from last week’s blog discussing animal research, this week’s blog discusses the work of the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs). But before discussing how NC3Rs are reducing the numbers of animals in research, how many animals are currently used in research? The Home Office statistics … Read more

A 2012 IPSOS Mori poll showed that although UK public support for the use of animals in medical research was high at 85%, support had fallen slightly from previous years.  Additionally, two thirds of respondents felt they were not well informed about this issue. In May of this year, the Concordat on Openness on Animal … Read more