5th Feburary 2007 | Sussex University Exposed in Paper
By Sarah Davidson
 
Behind Closed Doors
[This version of the article has added references to demonstate factual correctness of claims made.]

Hidden amongst the tranquil beauty of our campus lies dirty little secrets Sussex don't want you to know; this University is killing animals in brutal experiments.

We know Sussex are fairly big players in the world of animal experimentation, and we didn't waste much time in finding out just what they were up to. Our University are trying to keep their experiments - deemed as "vital to the understanding, treatment and cure of a range of 21st century health problems", shrouded in secrecy. And it is no surprise really, when this so-called 'life-saving medical research' is, in fact, injecting baby mice with Ethanol to induce stress and then snapping their necks [1], decapitating 14-day-old chicks [2], and inducing heat shock in rabbits [3].

In order to find out exactly what the University was up to - and to obtain some kind of explanation for this ignorant disregard for sentient beings, we sent them a letter requesting data under the Freedom of Information Act. We knew they would want to keep their experiments closely under wraps, and we were right. The vague response indicated that we were not allowed the information due to the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act. Unfortunately for an increasingly shifty-looking University, that simply sparked our interest even more.

We soon came to realise that we didn't need the Freedom of Information Act to access the true horrors of what is going on inside the sterile rooms of our science facilities. A selected volume of 'approved' published research is freely accessible online. From this source we found experiments where rats were made addicted to alcohol and given electric shocks [4], guinea-pigs had substances injected into them [5], voles were captured from the wild and experimented upon [6], and even links to primate research [7] (and just between you and me, rumour has it the Psychology department have just obtained a license to stock monkeys on campus for experiments).

What more can this University have to hide? Just when we thought there couldn't really be much more dirt to dig, we found that despite many science buildings breeding their own mice, rats and guinea-pigs for research [8], there is also an Animal House - a rather large, unmarked building trying awkwardly to look inconspicuous in the science area of our campus. Here hundreds, if not thousands, of animals await in sterile cages to be experimented upon. Sadly, we cannot tell for sure exactly which animals the University are hiding away in this vast fortress - once again, our polite request to access this building was turned down. Something tells me there are a few more dirty secrets Sussex don't want in the public domain. To be continued...

Research can be searched at: http://jbiol.com/search.
 
 
References

[Please note: These are not full references. Although published in the public domain, we have removed the names of those who have conducted the research. Full research papers can be viewed through the links provided].

[1] Ethanol modifies the effect of handling stress on gene expression: problems in the analysis of two-way gene expression studies in mouse brain. Brain Research, 1102 (1). pp. 39-43.

Online source: http://eprints.lib.sussex.ac.uk/586/


[2] The mechanical properties of chick (Gallus domesticus) sensory hair bundles: relative contributions of structures sensitive to calcium chelation and subtilisin treatment. J Physiol. 2004 August 15; 559(Pt 1): 287–299.

Online source: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=15218063


[3] Representational difference analysis of cDNA identifies novel genes expressed following preconditioning of the heart. Experimental and Molecular Medicine, Vol. 37, No. 4, 311-322, August 2005.

Online source: http://www.e-emm.org/article/article_files/(311-322)EMM041-04102(2002).pdf


[4] Repeated Ethanol Exposure and Withdrawal Impairs Human Fear Conditioning and Depresses Long-Term Potentiation in Rat Amygdala and Hippocampus. Biological Psychiatry Volume 58, Issue 5 , 1 September 2005, Pages 392-400.

Online source: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T4S-4GMGWGT-2&_coverDate=09%2F01%2F2005&_alid=504755467&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_qd=1&_cdi=4982&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000010638&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=128860&md5=c3c41b1253a4deb27f18d15271d998db#SECX8


[5] The Effect of Efferent Stimulation on Basilar Membrane Displacement in the Basal Turn of the Guinea Pig Cochlea. The Journal of Neuroscience, January 1, 1996, 76(1):325-332

Online source: http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/reprint/16/1/325


[6] Experimental demonstration of the antiherbivore effects of silica in grasses: impacts on foliage digestibility and vole growth rates. Biological sciences / The Royal Society., 273 (1599). pp. 2299-2304.

Online source: http://eprints.lib.sussex.ac.uk/581/


[7] Example One: Development of precision grips in chimpanzees, Developmental Science 1 (1), 39–43.

Online source: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-7687.00010?prevSearch=fulltextfield%3A%28%22university+of+sussex%22+primate%29

Example Two: Molecular Evolution of Prolactin in Primates, Journal of Molecular Evolution, Vol. 60, No. 5, pg 606 - 614, May 2005

Online source: http://www.springerlink.com/content/p21775n8n7117247/

Example Three: Coevolution of vocal communication and sociality in primates, Biology Letters, Vol. 1, No. 4, December 22, 2005, Pg 381 - 385

Online source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=17148212&dopt=AbstractPlus&holding=f1000,f1000m,isrctn


[8] Evidence from research papers proving Sussex University are breeding their own mice, rats and guinea-pigs:

Mouse breeding: See article in reference [1]
pg 42 - "Eight-week-old male mice of a C57B1/6J × SV129 derived strain were obtained from the University of Sussex."

Rat breeding: AMPA Receptor GluR2, but Not GluR1, Subunit Deletion Impairs Emotional Response Conditioning in Mice, Behavioral Neuroscience, April 2006, Vol. 120, No. 2, 241-248.
"Male gria1 KO and wild-type (WT) littermates on a C57BL/6J × 129Sv background were bred at the University of Sussex, Brighton, U.K..."

Online source: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1460-9568.2006.04901.x

Guinea pig breeding: See article in reference [5]
pg 1, final paragraph - "Young pigmented guinea pigs weighing 180-300gm from the laboratory maintained olony were used in this study."