Now Reading: ‘$8 million for transgender mice’? Trump was proper, US taxpayers really paid for it
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‘$8 million for transgender mice’? Trump was proper, US taxpayers really paid for it
‘$8 million for transgender mice’? Trump was proper, US taxpayers really paid for it
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Donald Trump’s declare that the US authorities spent $8 million on making mice transgender was initially dismissed as misinformation. However, a better take a look at federal funding information reveals that taxpayer cash has certainly been used for research involving gender-affirming hormone remedies in rodents.
The White Coat Waste Project, a watchdog group targeted on exposing authorities spending on animal experiments, has documented over $250 million in funding for transgender-related animal research during the last 20 years, reported the Telegraph. The group claims at the least two dozen lively federal grants are presently financing such analysis, amounting to $64 million.
Among the research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are:
- Duke University ($455,000): A mission finding out how HIV vaccines work in male mice given feminine hormones to mannequin gender transition.
- University of Michigan ($2.5 million): Research into how hormone remedy impacts mice, together with physiological and behavioral modifications.
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center ($300,000): A examine analyzing breast most cancers dangers in transgender people by analyzing tumors in hormone-treated mice.
- Emory University ($735,000): Research into the influence of intestine microbiome modifications throughout gender-affirming hormone remedy.
- University of California ($1.2 million): A mission testing the results of male intercourse hormones on feminine mice.
- Indiana University ($3.1 million): A examine on how feminizing hormone remedy impacts lung perform in rodents.
Musk calls it ‘demented’ analysis
Elon Musk lately criticized such experiments in an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, calling them a “horror show” and accusing researchers of “mutilating animals.” He argued that taxpayer cash was being wasted on pointless and unethical experiments.
White House and CNN’s reversal
Trump’s remarks have been met with skepticism from the media, with CNN initially fact-checking the declare as false. However, after the White House known as the community “fake news losers”, CNN quietly corrected its report, admitting that Trump’s assertion was based mostly on actual NIH-funded research.
Scientists defend the analysis
Some scientists argue that these research should not solely about modeling transgender hormone substitute however serve broader medical functions. Research on intercourse hormones in mice has helped develop remedies for osteoporosis, breast most cancers, and different situations.
A researcher at Emory University defined
“We study the effects of hormone treatment used by transgender people on skeletal development. The goal is to understand whether these treatments impair bone growth and increase the risk of osteoporosis later in life.”
Despite the talk, Trump’s declare about authorities spending on transgender mice experiments was not baseless. The difficulty now fuels broader discussions on federal funding priorities and the ethics of taxpayer-funded animal testing.
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