Nanotechnology Now - News Story: "PETA Stays up to Date With the Latest Technologies in the Animal Food and Testing Industry"

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October 29th, 2011

PETA Stays up to Date With the Latest Technologies in the Animal Food and Testing Industry

Abstract:
PETA: Genetic engineering is responsible for a skyrocketing increase in the numbers of animals used in laboratory experiments over the last 25 years. First, in developing a particular transgenic line, 90 to 99 percent of the animals are killed immediately because they do not incorporate the desired gene. Those who survive suffer from severe birth defects, degenerative joint disease, heart problems, liver and kidney diseases, pneumonia, and cancer. And yet animals can never be "humanized"—no matter how much genetic manipulation and wishful thinking is inflicted on them, a mouse cannot be turned into a tiny human being. There will always be thousands of important differences. The emergent field of nanotechnology provides both challenges and opportunities regarding animal use. Regulations specifically requiring animal testing do not yet exist for nanomaterials, and most scientists acknowledge that the animal tests used in the past do an even worse job predicting the safety of nanomaterials than they have done for traditional chemicals and pharmaceuticals. MatTek, which has been a pioneer in developing three-dimensional human-based tissue cultures (skin, mucosa, lung, etc.), has shown that these methods can be used for nanomaterials. PETA is taking the opportunity offered by the field of nanotechnology to push for a new testing paradigm that does not rely on animal-based tests.

Source:
ieet.org

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