RDS is, how about you?

Before you shudder with delight or disgust (depending on your predilections) let’s discuss exactly what it is you may be ‘in bed’ with her about – our oft-mentioned topic of animal research.

In anticipation of Pro-Test’s first demo, taking place tomorrow afternoon, there has been a flurry of media coverage.  Mick Hume outlines the debate clearly in today’s edition of The Times:

"Whose side are you on?” is a famous slogan of the old Left-Right divide, which you don’t often hear in our age of soulless managerial politics when, as the Monty Python song predicted, accountancy really does seem to make the world go around. But there are different divisions that matter today, drawing new lines in the political and cultural sands. One such divide is embodied by two protests around animal research due to take place in Oxford tomorrow.

… Neither of these is likely to be a mass demo. But the clash does symbolise something bigger, and to declare which side you are on is to make a statement about the sort of world in which you want to live.

The Times, 24 February 2006

I recommend reading the rest of this fantastic article, which in a few well-written paras outlines the key points of how these ‘worlds’ differ.  But just in case you don’t have time, Mick’s parting shot is a gem:

there is an old military version of the question “whose side are you on?”, where a sentinel asks a stranger “Qui vive?” — derived from a French phrase for “whom do you wish to live?” or “long live who? ” So, Qui vive? — man, or mouse?

Myself, much as I love cute mice, I’m going with man.

Today’s Guardian has also covered the imminent Pro-Test protest, with not only a great front page article in the main paper commending two Oxford professors for speaking out, but also a good piece in the Education section.

But, Guardian, we’d like to make two points. RDS doesn’t ‘dismiss’ microdosing – it seems as though it’s going to be a fantastic tool, but it’s not designed to predict toxicity and so can’t replace animals there. It could cut down their use in other types of research which is always welcome news. And, in relation to the front page article, “Scientists to speak out for animal tests” is rather old news, as RDS has been doing this with varying degrees of success for 98 years.