FBR Blog
Easy-to-read articles about animal testing and research.
The Miracle that Saved Selena Gomez Made Possible by Animal Research
Selena Gomez was all smiles on the set of her new film project, hours after revealing she’d spent much of the summer recovering from a kidney transplant. She broke the news today in a touching Instagram post, which accompanied a photo of the...
Animal Research in the Inspiring Story of Lasker Award-Winning Medical Discovery
The Foundation for Biomedical Research (FBR) joins the chorus of researchers, clinicians, and healthcare practitioners, along with the broader scientific and medical communities, in congratulating this year’s Lasker Award winners. Honorees...
Questioning the Science Behind Vaccines?
NEW OUTBREAKS OF DISEASES LIKE MEASLES SHOW THE URGENT NEED TO NIX BAD SCIENCE, WHEREVER VACCINES ARE CONCERNED As the end-of-summer approaches, in the past few weeks millions of parents have shuttled their children to multiple doctors’...
What are researchers doing to curb the rate of Lyme disease infection? (Part 2 of 2)
In case you missed it: Part 1 of this series explored the importance of Lyme disease research for human and veterinary medical science. Lyme disease experts Drs. Sam R. Telford III and Alan G. Barbour explained the central role the mouse model...
What are researchers doing to curb the rate of Lyme disease infection? (Part 1 of 2)
This summer, researchers from many universities have been venturing into the woods looking for a bloodsucking arachnid that’s responsible for infecting humans and, often, their dogs with a range of illnesses including Lyme disease: the...
3 Major Pet Medications Developed with Animal Testing
The author's brother with his dog, Archie, pictured left Fondly called “little old man” by his family, Archie certainly sounds like one, as his hacking cough disrupts playtime with his siblings. Archie, a 7-year-old Keeshond, has a case of...
4 Things I Learned Through My Dog’s Battle with Cancer
When you’re young, cancer often seems like something abstract and distant: something that happens to neighbors and strangers, but never in your own home. However, at 18 the disease hit in my home when my miniature schnauzer, Mabel, got bladder...
In Memoriam: Michael E. DeBakey, MD
On the ninth anniversary of his passing, the Foundation for Biomedical Research (FBR) remembers the extraordinary life and career of Michael E. DeBakey, MD (September 7, 1908—July 11, 2008). A cardiac surgeon, inventor, educator and medical statesman whose...
The Vaccine that Could Halt the Opioid Epidemic
Photo credit: Chuck Jines | chuckjines.com A pre-K teacher explains that forty percent of the kids in her class are raised by family members or guardians who are not their biological parents. She doesn’t even need to explain why; the woman she’s talking to, Melissa,...
The most promising research in Alzheimer’s disease is conducted with animal models.
Multi-generational family. Photo courtesy: Pixabay. Research shows family history plays a role in Alzheimer's disease. It’s an emotionally devastating scene in "Still Alice," the 2015 film adaptation of Lisa Genova’s bestselling novel about a woman’s battle with...
New Threats of Zika Infection and Complications with Pregnancy
Recently, officials reported a dramatic increase in the number of babies in New York City who either tested positive for the mosquito-borne Zika virus or were diagnosed with the characteristic developmental symptoms in the brain that are closely associated with the...
Animals: Serving our Veterans on and off the Battlefield
Per the Congressional Budget Office, military operations from 2003 to 2014 in the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters have claimed the lives of 5,282 Americans in uniform. Their sacrifice, and the brave service of all personnel who have been killed in action, will be...
HIV Vaccines: The Journey from Fear to Hope
The prospect of a vaccine that could prevent new HIV infections is now possible, thanks to developments in antiretroviral medications that were first created in the mid-1980s and improved over the years by researchers working with animal models. Today, May 18, marks...
The “Magic” that Saved Jimmy Kimmel’s Son Made Possible by Animal Research
Addressing his television audience on Monday night, Jimmy Kimmel tearfully thanked the doctors and nurses who saved the life of his son, born last week with a congenital heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) with Pulmonary Atresia (PA). The rare disease is...
Animals in Medicine Cared for like the Heroes They Are
The animal research [community] has a history of silence that we are beginning to understand must be broken. The public doesn’t have the information needed to understand what happens in our facilities. They’ve been inundated by propaganda that, at best, misrepresents...
More Than Skin Deep
Owners know that the bond they share with their dogs is unlike anything other. Still, no matter how close the relationship between dogs and their human parents, nothing compares to the special kind of affection children and dogs share. So, it’s likely that your heart...
My Story: Closer with Every Discovery
I am in my fifties and I have the gene that causes Huntington's disease. This disease lays waste to entire families for generations. I am not a medical person, but I always knew I was at risk. In 1977 I started reading all the previous year's research on this disease....
Dr. Thomas Starzl: Transplant Pioneer, Animal Research Advocate
Thomas E. Starzl, M.D., Ph.D. (1926-2017), known by many as the “Father of Transplantation,” is being mourned around the world. His ground-breaking career in research and transplant surgery saved countless patients, allowing them to live longer and healthier. The...