I can't wait for the blog on BrainFacts.org come live in the fall of 2012, a few months down the road. Neuroscience is a fascinating subject. When you think that a tiny little device called a Brain Controlled Interface can be implanted into the brain of a disabled person to let them control a robotic arm just by the power of their mind. How have we gotten there? And here I am using 'we' as representing mankind.
As it is said in this article , please do read it, this is not science fiction THIS IS REALITY! No facebooking or twitting, no these are people that have despite the adversity, the negative press, the complexity of the problems faced, the numerous challenges, created and delivered a way of improving lives of disabled persons. Are they the unsung heroes of a forsaken cause? I hope not!
This medical advancement benefits many human beings that are part of your family, perhaps even yourself or a friend, a relative, a distant face, a person you've seen in a wheelchair, Joe, Jack, Henri, Selena, Ibrahim , Dieter, Cho, Wei, and the list goes on. I could leave this space open for all to fill in their names here, if only they could. I could ask them all to send an email or to sign a petition to lobby government for the continued use of monkeys in research. Maybe I should but I won't, as I said before science moves on. We are not off the hook however for I call for your action and your continued support towards animal research and medical advancement.
You and I, since we know how WE have gotten there, we have a duty of care, of due dilligence. The work has been done. Some lives are improved, others have contributed and yes animals have been sacrificed. Have you ever imagined what life is like without the use of your limbs? Without the joys that our senses bring such as seeing, hearing or smelling? Without the faculty of understanding the very things that go on around you? Without the capacity to grasp emotions because you are incapacitated? Without the capacity of feeling grass under your toes? Without the capacity to express yourself? Today you may be just fine but tomorrow because of an accident or a crippling disease you may no longer enjoy life as you once did. Perhaps one is born that way, incapacitated. Or altzheimer's been waiting for you.
Shall we leave them all by the wayside? How have we gotten there? Has animal research, using monkeys or other animal species contributed?
Is it cruel to take these monkeys from the wild , fly them to a laboratory and perform the work that needs to be done? I have answered all of these questions for myself and my answer is unequivocally NO it isn't. Look at the areas neurosciences are involved in and I challenge you to not find a single person around you that will or may have benefited from Neuroscientific research. Or perhaps I am only expressing thoughts incapacitated persons can't?
As it is said in this article , please do read it, this is not science fiction THIS IS REALITY! No facebooking or twitting, no these are people that have despite the adversity, the negative press, the complexity of the problems faced, the numerous challenges, created and delivered a way of improving lives of disabled persons. Are they the unsung heroes of a forsaken cause? I hope not!
This medical advancement benefits many human beings that are part of your family, perhaps even yourself or a friend, a relative, a distant face, a person you've seen in a wheelchair, Joe, Jack, Henri, Selena, Ibrahim , Dieter, Cho, Wei, and the list goes on. I could leave this space open for all to fill in their names here, if only they could. I could ask them all to send an email or to sign a petition to lobby government for the continued use of monkeys in research. Maybe I should but I won't, as I said before science moves on. We are not off the hook however for I call for your action and your continued support towards animal research and medical advancement.
You and I, since we know how WE have gotten there, we have a duty of care, of due dilligence. The work has been done. Some lives are improved, others have contributed and yes animals have been sacrificed. Have you ever imagined what life is like without the use of your limbs? Without the joys that our senses bring such as seeing, hearing or smelling? Without the faculty of understanding the very things that go on around you? Without the capacity to grasp emotions because you are incapacitated? Without the capacity of feeling grass under your toes? Without the capacity to express yourself? Today you may be just fine but tomorrow because of an accident or a crippling disease you may no longer enjoy life as you once did. Perhaps one is born that way, incapacitated. Or altzheimer's been waiting for you.
Shall we leave them all by the wayside? How have we gotten there? Has animal research, using monkeys or other animal species contributed?
Is it cruel to take these monkeys from the wild , fly them to a laboratory and perform the work that needs to be done? I have answered all of these questions for myself and my answer is unequivocally NO it isn't. Look at the areas neurosciences are involved in and I challenge you to not find a single person around you that will or may have benefited from Neuroscientific research. Or perhaps I am only expressing thoughts incapacitated persons can't?
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