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Opening the door on the science lab: improving public perception of animal research

Helen Dunnett June 20th, 2011 No Comments

For several years Simon Festing of Understanding Animal Research (UAR) has had the difficult job of talking about the benefits of using animals in research. During this time he has witnessed some of the most concentrated and violent animal rights protests towards individuals and research centres in the UK.

After six and a half years at UAR, Simon is moving on to a new sector and new job, but before leaving I caught up with him to hear first-hand about some of the key issues that he has been trying to improve.  Poor scientific communication was at the top of his list, which I wasn’t actually expecting from him, being a supporter of science.

Simon gives an open and frank view on where the scientific community went wrong, why this happened and some concrete actions that the scientific community can do to increase their transparency to the general public.

Just as a side note, Simon uses the word anti-vivisectionists, which is often used in the UK to describe animal rights campaigners.

Enjoy the video.


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