Today we can expect to live twenty years longer than we could have earlier in this century. We enjoy a life style which has been enriched by product and environmental safety research. Our companion animals now live longer and healthier lives thanks to product safety and biomedical research.
In laboratories throughout Ohio, research contributes to the prevention and treatment of disease. Research also protects our health and safety at home, at work and in the environment. Check out some of the latest Ohio-based research efforts by clicking on one of the following Research O-HIghlights articles:
Examples of Advances in Biomedical Research Resulting From Animal Research
Here are some medical advances from Ohio research that have not only saved the lives of humans and animals but have improved the quality of life.
Cure
This Real Video tells the story of a little girl who was cured of cancer because of early Ohio-based cancer research. A combination of radiation therapy and chemotherapy saved her life and she has gone on to live a healthy, productive life as an adult.
In an adult the total surface area of the lungs' membranes is about one-half the size of a tennis court. In order to live, oxygen must move across this membrane into our blood for transport to all parts of our body.
A chemical normally produced in our bodies (called surfactant) prevents the lungs from collapsing and helps the movement of oxygen from the lungs to the blood stream. Production of surfactant begins at the seventh month of pregnancy and increases as a baby grows and matures.
Premature babies, especially those delivered before the seventh month of pregnancy, have too little surfactant. Their lungs tend to collapse and oxygen cannot easily enter the blood. Without treatment, most premature babies die of this condition called respiratory distress syndrome. An Ohio scientist has produced surfactant in the laboratory. Thanks to animal research on surfactant, hospitals are now able to save the lives of premature babies and other infants suffering from respiratory distress syndrome.
Biomedical Devices
Ohio research innovations include artificial organs, prosthetic devices and assistance devices. The first total hip replacement prosthesis was developed by veterinarians for dogs and then later adapted for humans. The following is a photograph of a model of the canine total hip replacement prosthesis next to an X-ray of a dog with the prosthesis in place.
Individuals awaiting kidney transplantation surgery rely on the life-giving, Ohio-developed kidney dialysis machine. Until the development of kidney transplantation techniques, this machine was the only life support mechanism for thousands of individuals.
Ohio researchers developed an oxygenator to prevent air bubbles produced by the early heart-lung machine.
Refinements of these medical devices continue to improve the quality of life for humans and animals.
Vaccines
This is a 1938 picture of nurses tending dozens of children with polio. Polio had damaged the nerves essential for contraction of the muscles used for breathing. Such victims would remain day after endless day in an iron lung machine or die of suffocation. In other victims, nerve damage resulted in paralyzed and withered arms or legs.
The polio epidemics of the 1940's and 50's threatened every American home. The victims of polio were mostly children. Parents were terrified because no one knew how polio was contracted or how to avoid it.
Today, thanks to the animal research resulting in the Ohio-developed Sabin Oral Polio Vaccine, polio is virtually non-existent in America and a medical oddity in much of the industrialized world.
Did You Know?
Ohio scientists have made many important contributions to human and animal health. Here are a few.
Diagnosis and Treatments:
Introduction of iodine-125 for diagnostic tests and imaging of organs.
Development of surgical procedures for repair of detached retina in the eye.
Introduction of cobalt-60 for cancer treatment.
Development of a walking cast for repairing broken legs in horse. Previously the horse would have been destroyed.
Determination of the body's chemicals that control blood pressure.
Identification of the mechanisms that control heart and skeletal muscle contraction and relaxation.
Prevention:
Development of vaccines for cats to prevent Feline Leukemia and Feline Infectious Peritonitis, formerly the top disease killers of cats.
Determination of the link between aspirin and pediatric Reye's Syndrome.
Determination of the minimum doses of viruses in drinking water that cause infection. This data led to the development of treatment standards for drinking water.
Determination of the safety of corrective and therapeutic contact lens.
All of these and many more advances were made possible through the use of animals in research and safety testing.
Outside of Ohio...
Many other websites provide information on how animals and people have benefitted from biomedical research that relied on animals. A few are listed below. To save you some time digging around for that material, we've provided links to the pages that specifically address this issue. For you kids that are using these sites for homework assignments, remember that the RDS is a British site -- this means that spellings of many medical terms will be a bit different than what we (or the teacher grading your paper) would consider "correct" here.
FBR is a national, non-profit organization. The full site is useful for middle grade students through adults.
National Institutes of Health (NIH) -- http://www.nih.gov/ Most of the information in this enormous government site ranges from resources for adult consumers (excellent) to material for professionals and administrative info for employees. Advanced students or those with some teacher guidance can sort through it with time and persistence, but middle-level students and younger students will probably find the site frustrating if entered at the top.
NIH Office of Science Education -- http://science-education.nih.gov/homepage.nsf Enter the NIH site here for pages useful for middle grades & up. No single page summarizes advances dependent on animal models. You'll have to dig a bit, but it's worth the effort -- material here ranges from quite good to excellent. New material appears frequently.
In an adult the total surface area of the lungs' membranes is about one-half the size of a tennis court. In order to live, oxygen must move across this membrane into our blood for transport to all parts of our body.
Ohio research innovations include artificial organs, prosthetic devices and assistance devices. The first total hip replacement prosthesis was developed by veterinarians for dogs and then later adapted for humans. The following is a photograph of a model of the canine total hip replacement prosthesis next to an X-ray of a dog with the prosthesis in place.
This is a 1938 picture of nurses tending dozens of children with polio. Polio had damaged the nerves essential for contraction of the muscles used for breathing. Such victims would remain day after endless day in an iron lung machine or die of suffocation. In other victims, nerve damage resulted in paralyzed and withered arms or legs.
