Westminster showcase for animal replacement research

PA 81/09 Researchers from The University of Nottingham will be in Westminster today to talk to MPs about how innovative scientific advances could reduce the need for animal experimentation in the quest to find new treatments for the painful degenerative joint condition osteoarthritis. Dr Ali Mobasheri, Associate Professor and Reader in Comparative Physiology at the University's School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, and PhD postgraduate student Abigail Clutterbuck will showcase their research at a poster event organised by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) in the House of Lords. Their work has been chosen as fine examples of research supporting the ethos of the centre, which provides a UK focus for the promotion, development and implementation of the 3Rs — replacement, refinement and reduction — in animal research and testing. Dr Mobasheri and Abigail both conduct research into developing our understanding of osteoarthritis, a painful and debilitating condition, which is the most common cause of joint disease in both humans and pets. It is hoped that by finding out more about how the condition progresses, new treatments and therapies can be developed to help relieve the symptoms of sufferers, which can include pain, inflammation and loss of mobility. Current methods of studying the disease can involve artificially recreating the condition in animals used for experimentation. This can be done by injecting the joints of animals with substances that will cause inflammation or even by surgically severing the cruciate ligament of the knee, which is associated with the onset of the disease.