{"id":38061,"date":"2023-09-20T08:46:56","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T06:46:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/proefdiervrij.nl\/?p=38061"},"modified":"2023-09-20T08:49:32","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T06:49:32","slug":"blog-wc12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/proefdiervrij.nl\/en\/updates\/blog-wc12","title":{"rendered":"Hope at the World Congress on Alternatives to Animal Testing!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last August, the 12th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences took place in Canada. Our experts, Debby and Saskia, were present to give a presentation on the impact of our courses<\/a> in Laboratory Animal Science and, of course, on the Proefdiervrij Venture Challenge. Three weeks later, Debby reflects about a valuable and hopeful experience in this blog.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\"Debby<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

“I notice that I’m becoming more and more determined. The World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences greatly reinforced that, because you can just feel that there’s so much momentum to move towards a world without animal testing. And I’m not the only one experiencing this. The next world congress will take place in 2 years, instead of the usual 3. Because science is advancing rapidly, and thus we need to catch up faster. Fantastic, isn’t it?”<\/p>\n<\/div>

Saddening news…<\/h2>\n<\/div>

“However, there are still significant steps to be taken worldwide. During the congress we were told that evidence has been gathered regarding the capture of wild macaques, which are then sold as ‘bred’ laboratory monkeys. This blatant animal cruelty leads to even more unreliable results of animal experiments due to the immense amount of stress the macaques experience in a completely unfamiliar environment. That this is happening in 2023 makes me so sad. Why do we still subject animals to this?”<\/p>\n<\/div>

But also happy news!<\/h2>\n<\/div>

“Fortunately, the congress mainly focused on wonderful developments. And the fact that these developments are progressing rapidly, gives them the potential to make animal testing unnecessary. During the congress, I was constantly pleasantly surprised. For example: a research group in the United States has succeeded in controlling a robot with a human brain organoid. This organoid emits signals so lifelike, that the robot translates them into movement. Just like what happens in our bodies. For me, this emphasized once again: we are really further along than you think!”<\/p>\n<\/div>