Tipu Aziz
Encyclopedia
Tipu Zahed Aziz is a professor of neurosurgery
at the John Radcliffe Hospital
in Oxford, and a lecturer at Magdalen College, Oxford
and the Imperial College London
medical school. He specializes in the study and treatment of Parkinson's disease
, multiple sclerosis
, dystonia
, spasmodic torticollis
, fixed abnormal posture of the neck, tremor
, and intractable neuropathic pain.
Aziz came to public prominence in the UK in February 2006 when he spoke out in favour of the use of animals in medical research
to several hundred demonstrators during a rally held by Pro-Test
, a new British group set up to promote the construction by Oxford University of a new biomedical centre in which research on animals will be conducted. Aziz is one of two Oxford neurosurgeons who sit on the Pro-Test committee.
He came to public attention again in March 2006 when he defended the use of animals in cosmetics
testing, which is banned in Britain. His comments were described as "perhaps unfortunate" by one colleague.
into what The Guardian called a "medical dynasty." He arrived in Britain at the age of 17 with just three O-levels
, but after passing A-levels, he studied neurophysiology at University College London
, where he became interested in deep brain stimulation
.
He went on to study for a doctorate at Manchester University, where he began his research on animals.
s, either surgically or using drugs
, then switching off the symptoms using electrodes he has implanted in their brains. During development of his techniques he has used around 30 monkeys in tests over 20 years, and many believe that as many as 40,000 people around the world have benefitted from the techniques.
The Guardian writes that some patients have described the surgery as "miraculous." In a 2006 BBC Two
documentary Monkeys, Rats and Me: Animal Testing, animal rights philosopher Peter Singer
described Aziz's research as "justifiable" on utilitarian
grounds. Singer later clarified his statement saying that it would only be justified, in his opinion, if Aziz were willing to do the same experiments on humans of a similar mental capacity.
Aziz has said that his future research interests will focus on viral, gene, and stem cell therapy to treat Parkinson's and similar movement disorders.
, Malcolm Macleod
, a clinical neuroscientist, was asked by Animal Aid
to conduct a systemic review into Aziz’s research. Macleod accidentally sent an email intended for a colleague to animal rights group. The e-mail stated he felt that Deep Brain Stimulation was an “area of weakness often trumpeted as a success, but which in reality is probably a failure”. He asked for “advice” and suggested he would "avoid, play a straight bat or price [himself] out of the market” for the review requested.
Animal Aid said about the e-mail “He [Dr Macleod] feared that an objective investigation of the associated animal research would expose the treatment's shortcomings. He was determined to avoid being drawn into the front line of the vivisection debate.”
Dr Macleod claimed that he stood by his choice not to do the review “I was not comfortable taking part in a study which was motivated by a desire to undermine Aziz.”
and his criticism of the animal liberation movement
, calling them "misinformed and sometimes illiterate anti-vivisection
ists who adopt terrorist tactics" and who "[undermine] the process of democracy" through "intimidation." Britain has "probably the most violent and absurd animal rights movement in the world", he told The Guardian. "The problem with British society is it has a humanoid perception of animals that's almost cartoon-like."
On February 25, 2006, he spoke out in favour of animal testing at a rally in Oxford organized by Pro-Test
in support of the construction of a new biomedical research center, which will conduct experiments on animals, including primate
s. Pro-Test was formed to counter SPEAK
, an animal rights
organisation aiming to end vivisection in the UK.
by 2009. He said that to argue cosmetics testing is wrong is "a very strange argument," and that "[p]eople talk about cosmetics being the ultimate evil. But beautifying oneself has been going on since we were cavemen. If it's proven to reduce suffering through animal tests, it's not wrong to use them. To say cosmetics is an absolute evil is absurd."
Other scientists who use animals in research have "distanced themselves" from Aziz's remarks. Clive Page, a researcher at the University of London, said: "I don't think we can justify using animals for cosmetics research. [Prof Aziz], like myself and a few others who talk out about this have worked very hard to try and explain to the public why we do medical research on animals and why it's still necessary. To muddy the waters by bringing back an issue of using animals for something that's not actually approved in the UK is perhaps unfortunate."
Simon Festing
, director of the pro-animal experimentation lobby group Research Defence Society
said of Aziz: "He's not involved in cosmetic testing himself, [Britain's] not involved in cosmetic testing, it's been banned here. There's no movement from the scientific community or the cosmetics industry to have it brought back in. I can't see it being particularly relevant apart from being his personal view."
induced. Electrodes were implanted in his brain to test the effects of deep brain stimulation
on the Parkinsonian symptoms and on his ability to perform the tasks. He will be destroyed at the end of the experiment, which could continue for several years.
Since the BBC documentary aired, SPEAK, a British animal rights campaign formed in 2002, has focused on the "Fight for Felix" as a symbol of their efforts to halt the construction of a new £20 million animal-testing facility in South Park Road, Oxford.
Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spine, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system.-In the United States:In...
at the John Radcliffe Hospital
John Radcliffe Hospital
The John Radcliffe Hospital is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England.It is the main teaching hospital for Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University. As such, it is a well-developed centre of medical research. It also incorporates the Medical School of the University of Oxford....
in Oxford, and a lecturer at Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
and the Imperial College London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...
medical school. He specializes in the study and treatment of Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
, multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
, dystonia
Dystonia
Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder, in which sustained muscle contractions cause twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures. The disorder may be hereditary or caused by other factors such as birth-related or other physical trauma, infection, poisoning or reaction to...
, spasmodic torticollis
Spasmodic torticollis
Spasmodic torticollis is a chronic neurological movement disorder causing the neck to involuntarily turn to the left, right, upwards, and/or downwards. The condition is also referred to as "cervical dystonia". Both agonist and antagonist muscle contract simultaneously during dystonic...
, fixed abnormal posture of the neck, tremor
Tremor
A tremor is an involuntary, somewhat rhythmic, muscle contraction and relaxation involving to-and-fro movements of one or more body parts. It is the most common of all involuntary movements and can affect the hands, arms, eyes, face, head, vocal folds, trunk, and legs. Most tremors occur in the...
, and intractable neuropathic pain.
Aziz came to public prominence in the UK in February 2006 when he spoke out in favour of the use of animals in medical research
Animal testing
Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and in vivo testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments. Worldwide it is estimated that the number of vertebrate animals—from zebrafish to non-human primates—ranges from the tens of millions to more than 100 million...
to several hundred demonstrators during a rally held by Pro-Test
Pro-Test
Pro-Test is a British group that promotes and supports animal testing in medical research. It was founded on January 29, 2006 to counter SPEAK, an animal-rights campaign opposing the construction by Oxford University of a biomedical and animal-research facility, which SPEAK believes may include a...
, a new British group set up to promote the construction by Oxford University of a new biomedical centre in which research on animals will be conducted. Aziz is one of two Oxford neurosurgeons who sit on the Pro-Test committee.
He came to public attention again in March 2006 when he defended the use of animals in cosmetics
Cosmetics
Cosmetics are substances used to enhance the appearance or odor of the human body. Cosmetics include skin-care creams, lotions, powders, perfumes, lipsticks, fingernail and toe nail polish, eye and facial makeup, towelettes, permanent waves, colored contact lenses, hair colors, hair sprays and...
testing, which is banned in Britain. His comments were described as "perhaps unfortunate" by one colleague.
Early life and education
Aziz was born in BangladeshBangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
into what The Guardian called a "medical dynasty." He arrived in Britain at the age of 17 with just three O-levels
General Certificate of Education
The General Certificate of Education or GCE is an academic qualification that examination boards in the United Kingdom and a few of the Commonwealth countries, notably Sri Lanka, confer to students. The GCE traditionally comprised two levels: the Ordinary Level and the Advanced Level...
, but after passing A-levels, he studied neurophysiology at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
, where he became interested in deep brain stimulation
Deep brain stimulation
Deep brain stimulation is a surgical treatment involving the implantation of a medical device called a brain pacemaker, which sends electrical impulses to specific parts of the brain...
.
He went on to study for a doctorate at Manchester University, where he began his research on animals.
Research interests
Aziz's work involves inducing Parkinsonian symptoms in monkeyMonkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
s, either surgically or using drugs
MPTP
MPTP is a neurotoxin precursor to MPP+, which causes permanent symptoms of Parkinson's disease by destroying dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of the brain...
, then switching off the symptoms using electrodes he has implanted in their brains. During development of his techniques he has used around 30 monkeys in tests over 20 years, and many believe that as many as 40,000 people around the world have benefitted from the techniques.
The Guardian writes that some patients have described the surgery as "miraculous." In a 2006 BBC Two
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
documentary Monkeys, Rats and Me: Animal Testing, animal rights philosopher Peter Singer
Peter Singer
Peter Albert David Singer is an Australian philosopher who is the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and Laureate Professor at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne...
described Aziz's research as "justifiable" on utilitarian
Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism is an ethical theory holding that the proper course of action is the one that maximizes the overall "happiness", by whatever means necessary. It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined only by its resulting outcome, and that one can...
grounds. Singer later clarified his statement saying that it would only be justified, in his opinion, if Aziz were willing to do the same experiments on humans of a similar mental capacity.
Aziz has said that his future research interests will focus on viral, gene, and stem cell therapy to treat Parkinson's and similar movement disorders.
Research Criticism
According to The Oxford StudentThe Oxford Student
The Oxford Student is a newspaper produced by and for students of the University of Oxford; it is sometimes abbreviated to The OxStu. The paper was established in 1992 by the Oxford University Student Union...
, Malcolm Macleod
Malcolm Macleod
Malcolm Macleod is a Scottish neurologist. He spent his early years in Achiltibuie and Inverness. He attended the Leachkin Primary School, Jedburgh Grammar School and Loretto School, Musselburgh, before studying Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.As an undergraduate he attained a First Class...
, a clinical neuroscientist, was asked by Animal Aid
Animal Aid
Animal Aid, founded in 1977, is a British animal rights organisation. The group campaigns peacefully against all forms of animal abuse and promotes a cruelty-free lifestyle. It also investigates and exposes animal cruelty....
to conduct a systemic review into Aziz’s research. Macleod accidentally sent an email intended for a colleague to animal rights group. The e-mail stated he felt that Deep Brain Stimulation was an “area of weakness often trumpeted as a success, but which in reality is probably a failure”. He asked for “advice” and suggested he would "avoid, play a straight bat or price [himself] out of the market” for the review requested.
Animal Aid said about the e-mail “He [Dr Macleod] feared that an objective investigation of the associated animal research would expose the treatment's shortcomings. He was determined to avoid being drawn into the front line of the vivisection debate.”
Dr Macleod claimed that he stood by his choice not to do the review “I was not comfortable taking part in a study which was motivated by a desire to undermine Aziz.”
Animal testing controversy
Aziz has been vocal in support of animal testingAnimal testing
Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and in vivo testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments. Worldwide it is estimated that the number of vertebrate animals—from zebrafish to non-human primates—ranges from the tens of millions to more than 100 million...
and his criticism of the animal liberation movement
Animal liberation movement
The animal-liberation movement, sometimes called the animal-rights movement, animal personhood, or animal-advocacy movement, is a social movement which seeks an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals, an end to the status of animals as property, and...
, calling them "misinformed and sometimes illiterate anti-vivisection
Vivisection
Vivisection is defined as surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure...
ists who adopt terrorist tactics" and who "[undermine] the process of democracy" through "intimidation." Britain has "probably the most violent and absurd animal rights movement in the world", he told The Guardian. "The problem with British society is it has a humanoid perception of animals that's almost cartoon-like."
On February 25, 2006, he spoke out in favour of animal testing at a rally in Oxford organized by Pro-Test
Pro-Test
Pro-Test is a British group that promotes and supports animal testing in medical research. It was founded on January 29, 2006 to counter SPEAK, an animal-rights campaign opposing the construction by Oxford University of a biomedical and animal-research facility, which SPEAK believes may include a...
in support of the construction of a new biomedical research center, which will conduct experiments on animals, including primate
Primate
A primate is a mammal of the order Primates , which contains prosimians and simians. Primates arose from ancestors that lived in the trees of tropical forests; many primate characteristics represent adaptations to life in this challenging three-dimensional environment...
s. Pro-Test was formed to counter SPEAK
SPEAK (animals)
SPEAK, the Voice for the Animals is a British animal rights campaign founded in 2003 that aims to end animal experimentation in the UK. It has to date fought against two projects. The first was a proposed non-human primate research facility at the University of Cambridge, which was abandoned in...
, an animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
organisation aiming to end vivisection in the UK.
Defence of cosmetics testing
In an interview published on March 4, 2005, Aziz condoned testing cosmetics on animals, a practice banned in the UK since 1998 and due to be banned across the European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
by 2009. He said that to argue cosmetics testing is wrong is "a very strange argument," and that "[p]eople talk about cosmetics being the ultimate evil. But beautifying oneself has been going on since we were cavemen. If it's proven to reduce suffering through animal tests, it's not wrong to use them. To say cosmetics is an absolute evil is absurd."
Other scientists who use animals in research have "distanced themselves" from Aziz's remarks. Clive Page, a researcher at the University of London, said: "I don't think we can justify using animals for cosmetics research. [Prof Aziz], like myself and a few others who talk out about this have worked very hard to try and explain to the public why we do medical research on animals and why it's still necessary. To muddy the waters by bringing back an issue of using animals for something that's not actually approved in the UK is perhaps unfortunate."
Simon Festing
Simon Festing
Simon Festing is chief executive of the Society for General Microbiology.-Education:Festing graduated in 1987 as a Bachelor of Medicine from the London Hospital Medical College...
, director of the pro-animal experimentation lobby group Research Defence Society
Research Defence Society
The Research Defence Society was a British lobby group. At the end of 2008 the Research Defence Society merged with another UK organisation - the Coalition for Medical Progress to form Understanding Animal Research ....
said of Aziz: "He's not involved in cosmetic testing himself, [Britain's] not involved in cosmetic testing, it's been banned here. There's no movement from the scientific community or the cosmetics industry to have it brought back in. I can't see it being particularly relevant apart from being his personal view."
Felix
An animal rights campaign has formed around a seven-year-old macaque monkey that Aziz has used in his research. Named Felix by Aziz himself, he is one of 100 purpose-bred monkeys used in animal experiments by Oxford University. Felix was featured in a November 2006 BBC documentary about Aziz's work, "Monkeys, Rats and Me." The monkey was shown being "shaped," that is, being encouraged to perform certain tasks by having food and water withheld, in advance of having the symptoms of Parkinson's diseaseParkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
induced. Electrodes were implanted in his brain to test the effects of deep brain stimulation
Deep brain stimulation
Deep brain stimulation is a surgical treatment involving the implantation of a medical device called a brain pacemaker, which sends electrical impulses to specific parts of the brain...
on the Parkinsonian symptoms and on his ability to perform the tasks. He will be destroyed at the end of the experiment, which could continue for several years.
Since the BBC documentary aired, SPEAK, a British animal rights campaign formed in 2002, has focused on the "Fight for Felix" as a symbol of their efforts to halt the construction of a new £20 million animal-testing facility in South Park Road, Oxford.
See also
- List of British Bangladeshis
- John Stein (Professor of Physiology)John Stein (Professor of Physiology)John Frederick Stein PhD CBiol FIBiol FRCPath is a Professor and Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, a constituent college of Oxford University. He holds a Professorship of Physiology, and has research interests in the neurological basis of dyslexia...
- Kevin WarwickKevin WarwickKevin Warwick is a British scientist and professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom...
- SPEAK campaign
Further reading
- Wishart, Adam. "Monkeys, Rats and Me: Animal Testing", BBC 2, November 2006; a documentary about the SPEAK campaign, featuring Tipu Aziz.
- Standing up for Science http://newgenerationsociety.com/2009/06/26/animal-testing-%e2%80%93-%e2%80%98standing-up-for-science%e2%80%99