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“I will NOT be celebrating this news”: Brian May shares disappointment over scientists using Queen track in experiment on mice
May expresses his annoyance in a post on Instagram where he calls for better treatment of animals in the science field.
Image: Jim Dyson/Getty Images
Queen guitarist Brian May has shared his annoyance over a scientific experiment which involved the band’s music being played to mice to test how it affected their insulin levels.
As reported by Forbes, researchers have been looking for new methods by which people with diabetes can regulate their insulin levels. A team in Switzerland found a way to do this by using sound waves, and the song they played to achieve this was iconic Queen hit, We Will Rock You.
In a nutshell, the experiment involved injecting a capsule of specifically engineered cells that produce insulin into mice, to then see how the cells responded and regulated the insulin levels when the song was played.
May shared his disappointment that the trial was carried out on animals rather than human beings in a post on Instagram: “So! Who would have guessed?! We Will Rock You can be good for your health! I’m happy about that. But not at all happy that these scientists tortured mice to find that out.”
He continues, “It’s now well known that many drugs and procedures that work in mice or rats do NOT work in humans. ‘Proving’ drugs in non-human animals was the cause of the terrible tragedy with Thalidomide some years ago. And, ethically, causing pain to one species to cure the ills of another is clearly unjustifiable. So the laws requiring tests on animals MUST be changed.
“I’m horrified that these scientists could gaily make these unfortunate animals suffer to prove a point that should have been made using human volunteers. Then I would have been smiling. But this? It’s so easy to gloss over the disgusting way we treat animals. It has to stop. It’s high time that scientists became responsible for what they do. Time they took responsibility for the way they behave. I will NOT be celebrating this news tonight.”
Queen are set to tour across North America this November with vocalist Adam Lambert. Find out more via their website.