Healing wounds with transplanted hair follicles can replace cruel, outdated animal tests ... and... This facial recognition study can replace cruel, invasive brain experiments on animals.
Scars mended using transplanted hair follicles
Instead of inflicting painful wounds on the skin of animals which is
markedly different from human skin, researchers at Imperial College
London, in partnership with Dr Francisco Jiménez of the Mediteknia
Clinic in Spain, conducted a novel human-based experiment to see if
hair follicles improved the scar healing process.
Inspired by the observation that hairy skin scars less, they
transplanted hair follicles into scar tissue on the scalps of three
volunteers and took microscope imaged biopsies at various intervals
to measure growth. They found that scars with implanted hair
follicles exhibited dramatic changes towards healthy, uninjured skin
when compares with control scaring.
This insight, made possible through innovative human-relevant
studies rather than cruel and outdated animal tests, may lead to
better wound healing treatments for both skin and internal organs.
To identify a voice, brains rely on sight
Animals are constantly used unnecessarily in cruel experiments that
probe their brains to link brain anatomy to function, which is not
only inhumane but often yields inapplicable information for humans.
New human-based research from the University of Pittsburgh was able
to reveal that the same region of the human brain is involved with
facial or voice recognition.
The scientists studied five epilepsy patients who had temporary
electrodes implanted for a seizure study. Participants were
presented with either photographs or voice recordings of three U.S.
presidents and tasked with identifying them.
They found that when participants heard the recordings, the part of
the brain responsible for processing visual cues exhibited
electrical activity, although it was lower in magnitude and slightly
delayed when compared with visual identification.
This novel study may aid researchers in learning more about and
treating disorders related to compromised facial recognition like
dementia.