Research involving animals produces benefits for health and well-being of humans, non-human animals and the environment. Understanding how the body works and how diseases progress, and finding treatments such as those for brain disease, can take many years of painstaking work using a wide range of research techniques. There is overwhelming scientific consensus worldwide that some research using animals is still essential for medical progress. All of the partnering TRIDENT research facilities conducting research involving animal models are committed to providing the highest standard of animal care and minimizing the number of animals used. We welcome questions at any time, and encourage interested parties to review further information about animal research via the links below. Animal Research at Western Animal Use in Science at the University of Toronto McGill University: Why Animal Research?

There is growing evidence that drug discovery, particularly of neurotherapeutics, is facing increased development costs and significant productivity declines (Gold 2021). OpenScience both reduces costs – by simplifying arrangements between partners, speeding up research start-up, avoidance of duplication, re-use of data, materials and tools – and increases productivity by better supporting the exchange of knowledge among a more diverse set of actors. Studies have shown that diversity increases the chance of a breakthrough (Gold 2020). TRIDENT is committed to supporting agile, collaborative agreements with potential partners that facilitates replication of results without sacrificing IP rights. TRIDENT also involves some of the world’s leading researchers at the nexus between biotech innovation, ethics, intellectual property and societal benefit including Dr. Richard Gold at McGill University as part of a core group advancing the study of open science and knowledge use related to the TRIDENT approach.

Cells also possess a distinct sex, with each being characterized by XX, XY, XO, XXY and other variants. A comprehensive analysis across various studies revealed variations in numerous parameters within both primary cultures and identifiable cell lines. It is worth noting that the identification of sex is compromised in many cell lines due to chromosomal aneuploidies and deletions. This observation extends to primary neuronal cultures, where even fundamental factors such as resting calcium levels can differ between male and female hippocampal neurons (Nuñez & McCarthy, 2009).