News On The NetU.S. Industry Spearheads Effort to Create Toxicology DatabaseAt a meeting sponsored by Procter & Gamble, Monsanto, and Alberto-Culver, representatives of U.S. and European regulatory agencies, as well as leaders of a number of companies, agreed to work together to assemble a database with the latest results from toxicology studies. For several years, these same groups have discussed whether it would be possible to assemble such a database. Last year, an industry-wide survey indicated widespread support for its creation, in spite of a number of issues that must be resolved. Recently, at a meeting of the International Toxicology Information Task Force, both U.S. and European representatives of these groups agreed that the time is ripe for such an effort. The group has asked the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) to begin the process of gathering more information and encouraging participation in the project. Alabama researchers win award for painless saliva testThree researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have won the prestigious Doerenkamp-Zbinden Foundation Award for their discovery of a non-surgical, non-invasive method to test for the presence of specific genes in transgenic laboratory mice. Carl Pinkert, PhD, Michael Irwin, PhD, and the late Jeffery Moffatt, PhD, of UAB's Department of Comparative Medicine, won the award for their creation of a saliva test to detect the presence of specific genes. "Current procedures used to detect transgenes involve surgical methods, which can cause pain or discomfort in research animals," Pinkert says. "These procedures can now be bypassed altogether by a painless technique that only takes a small sample of saliva, similar to a mouth rinse." The Doerenkamp-Zbinden Foundation Award is given for techniques, instruments, or drugs that have produced a clear reduction in suffering in research animals. The UAB group's polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis can replace surgical biopsy as a method for identifying transgenic animals. These are animals that have been genetically engineered to express foreign or novel DNA to study gene regulation and function. Many researchers use transgenic animals to study the genetic bases of human and animal diseases and to design and test possible treatments. Since each genetically engineered animal must be tested to determine if DNA transfer was successful, Pinkert says surgical biopsies are performed on hundreds of thousands of animals each year. Pinkert and his colleagues developed their PCR analysis in the summer of 1996. "The biggest advantage in our test is [in] the welfare of the animals," Pinkert says. "This procedure improves conditions for the animals. It's less stressful; it doesn't induce any complications; and it's considerably quicker." The PCR analysis is as effective as biopsy on older mice, but does require a two-step process to detect transgene incorporation in younger mice, Pinkert says. Efforts are underway to improve the effectiveness of the test in younger mice. Pinkert and colleagues published their findings in the journal Nature Biotechnology in September 1996. Cell Culture TestA cell culture test for photoxicity has been validated successfully in international study sponsored by the European Union and the European Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Perfumery Association. New Encyclopedia Scheduled for PublicationThe Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare will be published by Greenwood Press (Westport, CT) and is tentatively scheduled for release in June. Edited by Marc Bekoff, of the University of Colorado, this one-volume reference work will provide essays by recognized authorities in the field, addressing many issues of animal rights and animal welfare. The foreword was written by Jane Goodall. For more information, contact Mark Bekoff, EPO Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0334 or e-mail marc.bekoff@colorado.edu. New Journal on Animal Welfare Published First IssueJAAWS, the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, is now available. The first issue was just published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., and Vol. 1, No. 1 includes a variety of information, ranging from enrichment studies to a summary of databases available in the field of animal welfare. The journal will be published quarterly. According to the publisher's Web site, each issue will include several reports "covering scientific experiments or demonstrations that present evidence relating to prime issues of applied animal welfare science. All submitted manuscripts will be peer-reviewed by a panel of section editors who oversee an even more complete review by a distinguished board of editors. Content areas of animal welfare and their respective section editors are as follows: - Laboratory: David B. Morton, University of Birmingham, UK
- Farm: Joy A. Mench, University of Maryland
- Companion: James A. Serpell, University of Pennsylvania
- Wildlife/Zoo: Marc Bekoff, University of Colorado
JAAWS also will publish feature articles that present particularly significant or provocative contributions to our understanding of animal welfare -- new empirical data or reevaluations of available data, or conceptual or theoretical analyses. These feature articles will be accompanied by several invited commentaries that critically discuss the contribution -- particularly in regard to its implications for animal welfare." For subscription information or details about submission of manuscripts, visit the publisher's Web site here. Utrecht University Offering Summer CourseThe Department of Laboratory Animal Science at Utrecht University in The Netherlands is offering a two-week intensive course on the humane use of animals to produce quality research. The course runs from June 8 through June 19 and encompasses microsurgery, animal nutrition, genetic monitoring, primatology, and anesthesiology. Registration is required before May 1. For more information, contact Marianne Albers in the Department of Laboratory Animal Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, P.O. Box 80.166, 3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands, phone: *31-30-2532033 or fax: *31-30-2537997. You also may contact her via e-mail at pdk@pobox.ruu.nl Altweb Receives AwardStudyWeb, a site which lists educational resources for students and teachers, recently presented the Alternatives to Animal Testing Web Site (Altweb) with the "StudyWeb Excellence Award." StudyWeb now features Altweb on its site as "one of the best educational resources on the Web." Altweb is described on two pages in StudyWeb: Veterinary Medicine and Animal Rights. StudyWeb is located here. | 
