TOP NEWS THIS WEEK
Crabs Feel Pain, New Study Confirms: A study at the University of Gothenburg has provided evidence that crabs process pain signals in their brains. Using EEG-style measurements, researchers detected clear neural reactions when crabs experienced mechanical or chemical stimulation. This adds to the growing evidence of crustacean sentience. Unfortunately, researchers showed this by deliberately harming the animals, and they frame this as relevant mainly to finding “less painful ways to kill” crabs rather than questioning whether we should be killing them at all.
3D Printing Could End Animal Testing: Scientists at the University of Strathclyde have developed a technique for printing tiny human blood vessels, potentially eliminating animal testing in drug development. This technology, called PRINCESS, creates vessels smaller than a human hair and could help build more accurate human tissue models. The development adds to existing non-animal methods like organ-on-a-chip technology, computer modeling, and human cell cultures that are already proving more reliable than animal tests. Several countries have made progress in this direction. The EU has banned animal testing for cosmetics, while the US FDA Modernization Act 2.0 now allows non-animal testing methods for drug development. Mexico and Australia have also recently banned cosmetic animal testing. This new blood vessel printing technique could help overcome one of the remaining technical challenges in creating complete human tissue models, bringing us closer to ending animal testing even on questionable scientific grounds. At the same time, ethical objections to animal testing continue to increase. Read the news on phys.org.
Study Shows Plant Protein Equal to Animal Protein: Vegans are giving press to a beef industry-funded study which found that plant proteins perform equally well for muscle building compared to beef. The research, which originally aimed to prove plant proteins inferior, showed no difference in muscle protein synthesis between beef and plant protein meals. This contradicts long-held myths about the necessity of animal protein. Participants who ate plant-based meals also reported feeling fuller longer and had less desire to eat again. Mic the Vegan breaks it down.
SOCIAL SPOTLIGHT
Deep Sea Mining Threatens Ocean Animals
As 2025 approaches, the international community faces a critical decision about deep-sea mining that could harm countless sentient beings who live in the deep ocean. While momentum grows for a moratorium on deep-sea mining, companies are preparing to begin mining operations. Concern centers on environmental issues, but an enormous number of animals live on or around the sea floor. The mining would not only directly kill many of these animals but would also create sediment plumes that could suffocate others and disrupt their food sources.
DID YOU KNOW?
In 2002, Germany became the first country to include animal protection in its constitution, adding the words “and animals” to a clause that obligates the state to protect “the natural foundations of life.” This historic amendment made Germany the first EU nation to give animal protection the status of a constitutional goal. However, the change has had limited practical impact. While it requires the state to consider animal welfare in legislation and enforcement, it hasn’t fundamentally challenged or reduced animal exploitation. Factory farming, animal experimentation, and other forms of animal use continue largely unchanged. The gap between constitutional recognition and actual protection highlights how legal reforms, while important, must be accompanied by deeper societal shifts in how we view and treat other sentient beings.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
When discussing deep-sea mining, most people focus on environmental impacts while overlooking the animals who would be directly harmed. How can we shift the conversation to include the interests of these sentient beings? Should we consider a habitat’s animal population before extracting its resources? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Stay informed and keep advocating for a more vegan world. See you next week with more updates!
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