Some Recent NIH-Funded Experiments on Animals Conducted in Foreign Laboratories

Institution conducting experiment, country, funding agency, and award Grant or published paper What experimenters do/did to animals

Kinoxis Therapeutics, Australia

National Institute on Drug Abuse

2023: $2,149,117

Advancing KNX100 for the treatment of opioid withdrawal: preclinical efficacy and toxicology, and a phase 1 clinical program. [Grant] Experimenters addict dogs to opioids.

University of Prince Edward Island, Canada

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

2023: $138,116

Early-life seizures modify behavioral response to ultrasonic vocalization playback in adult rats. Epilepsy Behav. 2022 Experimenters injected acid into the brains of baby rats to induce seizures.

University of Calgary, Canada

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

2023: $602,472

Utility of hybrid transferrin binding protein antigens for protection against pathogenic neisseria species. Front Immunol. 2019 Experimenters infected 48 female mice with gonorrhea and 32 male mice with bacterium that cause meningitis.

University of Melbourne, Australia

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

2023: $321,387

Sex differences in c‐Fos and EGR‐1/Zif268 activity maps of rat sacral spinal cord following cystometry‐induced micturition. J. Comp. Neurol. 2021 Experimenters surgically implanted catheters in the bladders of 24 rats, then infused saline solution into the bladders to force the animals to urinate constantly.

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Australia

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

2023: $146,098

Shining a light on bat cellular immunity following virus infection. [Grant] Experimenters infect bats with a highly harmful virus.

University of Sydney, Australia

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

2022: $2,453,560

Advancing vaccine adjuvant research for tuberculosis (Avart-t). [Grant] Experimenters infect monkeys with tuberculosis.

Newcastle University, U.K.

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

2023: $457,675

Locating the neural substrates for the flexor synergy after stroke. [Grant] Experimenters surgically implant electrodes in monkeys’ arms and then damage their brains to strokes.

McGill University, Canada

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

2023: $492,583

Functional analysis of injectable substance treatment on surgically injured rabbit vocal folds. J. Voice. 2021 Experimenters cut the vocal cords of 12 rabbits and insert a spatula “several times to exacerbate inflammation and scarring to ensure adequate injury.”

Karolinska Institute, Sweden

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

2023: $272,523

Changes in operation of postural networks in rabbits with postural functions recovered after lateral hemisection of the spinal cord. J. Physiol. 2023 Experimenters surgically implant electrodes in eight rabbits’ legs, then cut their spinal cords. Then, experimenters cut the cerebrums from some rabbits’ brains, fix the rabbits to a platform by their heads and vertebral columns, and tilt the platform to observe the rabbits’ muscle response.

Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Perú

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

2023: $134,720

Porcine model of neurocysticercosis by intracarotid injection of Taenia solium oncospheres: Dose assessment, infection outcomes and serological responses. PLoS Negl. Trop. Dis. 2022 Experimenters surgically implanted a catheter in the carotid arteries of 31 piglets so they could insert up to 10,000 tapeworm embryos. “Two pigs were euthanized … due to gastric torsion and severe pneumonia.” The remaining piglets were killed five months after the surgery.

University College London, U.K.

NIH Office of the Director

2021: $853,638

Simplifying the hardware requirements for fast neural EIT of peripheral nerves. Physiological Measurement. 2022

 

Fascicle localisation within peripheral nerves through evoked activity recordings: A comparison between electrical impedance tomography and multi-electrode arrays. J. Neurosci. Methods. 2021

 

Optimization of the electrode drive pattern for imaging fascicular compound action potentials in peripheral nerve with fast neural Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT). Physiol. Meas. 2019

Experimenters cut rats open, dissected their sciatic nerve, implanted electrodes, and killed the animals.

Kenyatta University, Kenya

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

2023: $156,736

Characterisation of drug resistance in field-collected schistosomes. [Grant] Experimenters infect hamsters with a parasite that causes the devastating  disease schistosomiasis, whose symptoms include fever, chills, and muscle aches.

University of Strasbourg, France

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

2023: $255,960

The GPR88 agonist RTI‐13951‐33 reduces alcohol drinking and seeking in mice. Addict. Biol. 2022 Experimenters addicted mice to morphine and alcohol.

McGill University, Canada

National Institute on Drug Abuse

2023: $258,140

Amphetamine disrupts dopamine axon growth in adolescence by a sex-specific mechanism in mice. Nat. Commun. 2023 Experimenters gave young mice “recreational-like” and “Adderall-like” doses of amphetamines, injected viruses into their brains, and decapitated them weeks later.

University of Helsinki, Finland

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

2021: $422,943

Capturing large-scale locus coeruleus single neuron activity in behaving rats with nanoelectronic threads (NETs), an ultra-flexible multi-electrode probe. [Grant] Experimenters restrained fully awake rats, implanted more than 500 electrodes in their brains, and forced the animals to live like this for months.

C4X Discovery Holdings PLC, U.K.

National Institute on Drug Abuse

2018: $476,025

Preclinical development of a selective Orexin-1 receptor antagonist for treatment of cocaine addiction. [Grant] Experimenters addicted rats to cocaine.

University of British Columbia, Canada

National Eye Institute

2017: $267,961

Localization and functional characterization of the p.Asn965Ser (N965S) ABCA4 variant in mice reveal pathogenic mechanisms underlying Stargardt macular degeneration. Hum. Mol. Genet. 2018 Experimenters removed the eyes of baby mice

University Health Network,

Canada

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

2017: $846,905

Plasmin-resistant PSD-95 inhibitors resolve effect-modifying drug-drug interactions between alteplase and nerinetide in acute stroke. Sci. Transl. Med. 2021 Experimenters caused strokes in rats and monkeys. Some animals died within 18 to 24 hours while others hemorrhaged between the brain and brain tissue.

Institut Pasteur de Tunis,

Tunisia

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

2017: 112,335

Impact of zooprophylaxis on zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis transmission. [Grant] Experimenters used rabbits as bait for sandflies.

University of Calgary, Canada

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

2020: $53,973

An animal model for identifying regulatory sequences of the human SHOX gene. [Grant] Experimenters manipulated cats’ genes to create leg deformities.

Fondation Voir et Entendre, France

National Eye Institute

2019: $214,941

Translational models of photoreceptor degeneration to test safety and efficacy of stem celltransplantation. [Grant] Experimenters injured monkeys’ eyes to blind them.

Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research, South Africa

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

2016: $171,641

Integrin a4b7 as a predictor of HIV acquisition and pathogenesis. [Grant] Experimenters infected monkeys with simian immunodeficiency virus—an illness in monkeys that’s not the same as HIV.

Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, Germany

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

2019: $178,041

Global panel of non-human primate challenge viruses for standardized assessment of in vivo efficacy of HIV-1 Env antibodies. [Grant] Experimenters infected monkeys with simian immunodeficiency virus and other viruses.

Vaxine Pty Ltd, Australia

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

2020: $3,532,876

Advanced development of vaccine candidates for biodefense and emerging infectious diseases. [Grant] Experimenters injected monkeys with influenza vaccines.

Centre for Addiction And Mental Health, Canada

National Institute of Mental Health

2017: $154,967

Endocannabinoid modulating drugs improve anxiety but not the expression of conditioned fear in a rodent model of post-traumatic stress disorder. Neuropharmacology. 2020

 

Prefrontal cortex deep brain stimulation improves fear and anxiety-like behavior and reduces basolateral amygdala activity in a preclinical model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2018

Experimenters electroshocked rats to induce “fear and anxiety,” drilled holes in their skulls, and implanted electrodes in their brains. Finally, they killed the animals.

 

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 Ingrid E. Newkirk

“Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing leather, and going to circuses and zoos. We never considered the impact of these actions on the animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now asking the question: Why should animals have rights?” READ MORE

— Ingrid E. Newkirk, PETA President and co-author of Animalkind