Commission beefs up TSE research
More funding and more intensive coordination of research is to be dedicated to research into TSE (transmissible spongiform encephalopathy) according to a communication sent on 12 June by the European Commission to the Council and European Parliament. The communication highlights that the Commission made an extra 25 million euro available for new research projects and the coordination of national and European activities on 31 May and focuses on two main areas where research in the area can be enhanced: increased coordination and concentration of means. The increased coordination will lead to more exchange of research results, opening up of national programmes and expanding research networks to candidate countries. The communication specifies several areas where this coordination could take place, which it feels could be carried out in the proposed European research area (ERA). Suggested areas include improved epidemiological surveillance, inventory and sharing of animal models and cell lines and best practice in abattoir techniques and waste disposal. The proposed concentration of means is designed to address fragmentation of current activities, creating a financial critical mass or creation of infrastructure. The priorities for research were drawn up by a group of experts from the Member States, taking an inventory of European TSE research activities drawn up in April 2001 as a starting point. While emphasising that key areas such as understanding how infectious prions propagate in human and animal bodies need further research, the experts also identified four key areas where a research gap exists. These are: in vivo testing for pre-clinical diagnosis; human variant of the disease and risk assessment; inactivation of the prion and prevention and animal TSE and transmission. Research Commissioner, Philippe Busquin welcomed the move, claiming it helped enforce the research effort to combat TSEs whilst also providing a good example of the ERA. 'Research is an integral part the solution of the TSE problem, in Europe. TSE is a complex disease and much research is still needed to better understand it. The exercise we just completed showed once again that a lack of coordinated action in research is one of Europe's main weaknesses,' he said. 'This inventory and the actions we propose is a practical and concrete illustration of the European research area at work.'