We are asking the European Commission to implement
toxicogenomics in replacement of toxicological tests on
animals. If you are a board member of an association, you
can participate by signing our letter and joining all the
associations that have already signed.
Sign and send before 10 July 2006!
Antidote Europe is a scientific committee willing to
contribute to the blooming of an efficient and safe
biomedical research. In spite of research's dynamism at the
international level, the number of individuals suffering
from severe diseases is increasing. It is about time to
expose the defaults of the most usual techniques, largely
based on animal experimentation, and to inform the public,
the media and the authorities about the existence of safe
methods, at the top of today's biomedical research, for
example, toxicogenomics, of which we propose an original
approach.
Why Antidote Europe ?
In spite of the increasing amount of specialised or
popularised scientific published works, in spite of
constant appeals through the media, for biomedical
research, and testifying how dynamic this research is and
how important its supplies, one cannot but state that the
number of persons suffering from serious diseases in
developing countries (in the very places where these means
are used) is constantly growing.
As a major cause to this paradox, Antidote Europe has
recorded the enduring of old-aged and outdated research
methods with an efficiency which has never been proved, as
a reference to animal experimenting, especially.
Since its beginning, this practice has been in dispute, but
gained on at large from the end of the nineteenth century
and was made compulsory, in some cases, in the first half
of the twentieth century, under the pressure of its
advocates, in spite of some raising and sometimes famous
voices which have been opposed to it for ethical or
scientific reasons ever since.
Antidote Europe doesn't aim at getting involved into the
ethical issue over animal rights.
Antidote Europe is a scientific committee
Our committee is opposed to animal experimenting strictly
for scientific reasons. Our president and a great number of
our members are international researchers, so we can
rightfully express ourselves thereon. That's why Antidote
Europe exists: first to inform about the harm done because
of this method on human health and the environment, then to
promote true scientific methods.
The danger lies in the fact that the results of animal
experimenting are not transposable to the human being,
neither are they transposable between animal species. As a
consequence, when a therapy is thoroughly tried and tested,
when you test how efficient a medicine is, when the toxic
risk of a chemical product is tested on a great number of
guinea-pig animals, we are not at all informed about the
effects of this therapy, medicine or product on human
beings. Some ten thousands of chemical products are used,
some are assessed as non toxic on the grounds of animal
testing, others without any assessment. And we know that
some harmless substance (or thought to be so) for some
animal species or others is not necessarily harmless for
humans.
Therefore we are guinea pigs just as animals. We can draw
several consequences from this statement: side effects from
medicines which range among the major causes for death in
industrialised countries, the exponential increasing of
death by cancer to be related to the amount of carcinogenic
chemical substances to be found in one blood sample of any
European or North American inhabitant, the increasing of
cases suffering from neurological diseases (Alzheimer,
Parkinson, multiple sclerosis, etc.), the growing of male
sterility, etc.
In favour of a responsible science
Yet, there are some reliable methods to assess the toxicity
of chemical matters. They are easy to carry out, less
expensive than animal experimenting and the results are
available in a few days only. Why aren't they imposed to
industrials? That's what Antidote Europe is asking the
authorities for.
When you know that a very product can be said harmless or
carcinogenic according to the kind of animal species on
which it's tested, it's obvious that animal experimenting
is a precious tool to get the permission to bring even
dangerous products on to the market, or to put victims who
would try to sue the manufacturer off side. With a view to
making financial profits, this method is clearly reliable!
To the cost of public health and the environment.
Antidote Europe wishes to put the persons in charge of
private or state-owned research centres face to face with
their responsibilities in degrading human health, in
polluting (still reversibly?), in killing uselessly animals
in laboratories.
Antidote Europe wishes to denounce the accommodating of
national and European authorities with chemical
corporations and demand that the human health shouldn't be
given up to industrial profits.
Why "Antidote" and "Europe"?
"Antidote" because it's still time for reacting, although
everybody is already running some risks because of some ten
thousands of chemical molecules to be found around us. The
solution, acting in some way as a counter-poison, consists
in testing the toxicity of these substances, on a reliable
basis and in prohibiting the most dangerous ones. Thanks to
our Scientific Toxicology Programme, the solution is partly
under way.
"Europe" because molecules have no barriers and pollution
is all around the world. Before creating "Antidote
International", it appeared as a necessity to be of an
influence outside France and to address the European
Establishment for its decisions now influence the national
laws. This seems workable as a purpose all the more so as
our president is also the science adviser for an English
organisation (Europeans for Medical Progress) and is in
touch with numerous organisations inside and outside our
country.
Our team
Antidote Europe is run by Claude Reiss, our President,
Augustine Savy, our secretary and Françoise Reiss, our
paymaster.
Trained as a physician, Claude Reiss graduated at San
Diego's university, California. On his way back to France,
at the time when Jacques Monod and François Jacob had just
been awarded the Nobel Prize for their research on the
genetics of bacteria, he got interested in this dawning
field and in biology at large.
His first works were dedicated to biophysics. He then
involved himself into molecular biology and later on in
toxicology. His research focused on two major fields:
- the protein translation and folding mechanism: this topic
led him to build some hypothesis about the possible origins
of such neurological diseases as Alzheimer, Parkinson,
Creutzfeldt-Jakob (the corresponding human disease for the
mad cow ), multiple sclerosis, etc.
- the aids virus and its reproducing strategy: with this
topic Claude Reiss was led to propose an outcoming healing
strategy. This technique has already been patented in the
United States. The preclinical tests haven't been carried
out yet and Claude Reiss is trying to gather all the money
necessary to achieve them.
During more than thirty years, Claude Reiss worked as a
research director, in the C.N.R.S. (the National Centre for
Scientific Research in France) and at Jacques Monod's
Institute. He also taught biology for third stage studies
at Lille's University. Being now retired from public
institutes, he's still doing his research within some
private or associative structures.
He was a leading actor in the organization of two European
workshops on cellular and molecular toxicology: one in
Sophia Antipolis, in 1996, the other in Paris in 1999. The
latter led to the publishing of the following book:
Molecular Responses to Xenobiotics, under the direction of
G. Labbe, H. Parvez, S. Parvez et C. Reiss (Ed Elsevier,
2001).
Augustine Savy was director's assistant, she is retired
now. She was among the first to become members of Antidote
Europe and she is actively dedicated to promote our
association.
Françoise Reiss is an emeritus research director in the
C.N.R.S. She is also an international specialist for
bacterial photosynthesis.
With more than 150 written articles, she proved how the
photosynthesis apparatus could turn the energy from light
into chemical energy that is vital for the cell .She was
the pioneer in building this apparatus architecture, which
was a technical achievement as well as a decisive
breakthrough in understanding photosynthesis.
Hélène Sarraseca, Antidote Europe's executive director and
also co-founder, is in charge of the connections between
members, the administration, together with the making of
the quarterly journal, La Notice d'Antidote, and the
scientific popularization.
Graduated in neurosciences, she kept research terms at the
C.N.R.S. Not wishing to work in animal experimenting, she
didn't take a PhD and accepted a job as a scientific
competitive intelligence responsible in a company for
biotechnology where she had several other positions (such
as patent administrator) till the point when the company
gave up business, as it was taken over by a laboratory in
pharmaceutics.
We are asking the European Commission to implement
toxicogenomics in replacement of toxicological tests on
animals. If you are a board member of an association, you
can participate by signing our letter and joining all the
associations that have already signed.
Sign before 10 July 2006!
Learn more
Join us, support us
Scientific research without animal experiments would
allow to find therapeutic solutions relevant for humans,
would allow a reliable assessment of chemical's toxicity.
Whether your concern is for your health and that of your
children, animal's welfare or Earth's pollution, let's work
together !
En vous remerciant pour votre attention,
Bien cordialement,
Hélène Sarraseca
Directrice / Director
Antidote Europe
http://www.antidote-europe.org
30_Millions_d_Amis@xmr3.com
26 rue de Cernay - 91470 Les Molieres - France
0033 (0)1 45 77 48 15 (lundi et jeudi de 10h30 à 18h /
Monday and Thursday
from 10h30 to 18h)