Record Funding of £5.1 Million Has Been Awarded for Research Designed to Reduce Animal Experiments – and Cambridge UK Technology is in the Frame.Dr Raymond Bujdoso of the University of Cambridge has been awarded a grant to research the use of PrP transgenic Drosophila to measure mammalian prion infectivity. The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) was able to make the largest single allocation of funding ever made for 3Rs research in the UK after additional contributions from the core funders – the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Medical Research Council. The latest funding brings the Centre’s investment since foundation in 2004 to over £30 million on 131 different grants. Projects awarded grants in the new round investigate the causes of cancer and liver fibrosis to understanding the transmission of influenza virus and the effect of drugs on bone formation during osteoporosis. Many of the projects involve multi-disciplinary teams, with biologists working with computational and mathematical modellers through to animal behaviour experts collaborating with neuroscientists. Much of the new research focuses on developing and utilising cutting edge techniques, such as a novel nebuliser and cell culture system that will replace ferrets used for influenza research, and adapting MR Elastography, a non-invasive imaging technology which measures the elasticity of tissues, to take heart function measurements in rodents. More at Business Weekly | 
