Association Briefs

Yet another voice in the scientific community's debate over animal research has made itself heard. The New York-based Medical Research Modernization Committee, a group of health care professionals who say that "most animal `models' are irrelevant or outdated," has published its first issue of Perspectives on Animal Research. Stephen Kaufman, an ophthalmologist and coeditor of the new journal, says its main purpose is to evaluate the clinical significance of different research methods, such as computer and in vitro models, in terms of their relevance to human health. He calls most of the journals dealing with animal research "rather biased" because of their defense of most research. "It's more critical [of animal research] than most mainstream scientific literature," he says of his publication, adding that the journal welcomes articles on both sides of the issue - the articles in the first issue, however, were critical of research. "We're not saying it ...