Transcript Use of Animals in Research and Education

Copyright 2010. PEER.tamu.edu
Using Animals in
Research and
Education
Quick Questions:
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Why do we need to use animals for research
and teaching?
What have people learned from animal
research?
Are the animals used in research & education
protected and taken care of?
Does everyone agree with using animals for
research or do some people disagree?
Why Do We Need To Use Animals
for Research & Teaching?
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The functions of cells and organs are
basically the same in animals and humans.
What we learn from animals is useful in
human and animal medicine.
Animal cells function in
many of the same
ways as human cells.
Biologically, humans
are in the Animal
Kingdom.
An animal cell
Why Do We Need To Use Animals
for Research & Teaching?
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Animal are used to:
• Understand how
diseases affect living
tissue
• Develop and test
treatments —
including treatments
for animals
• Train future scientists
and health-care
professionals
Can Computer Models and Cell
Cultures Replace Animal
Research?
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Non-animal models are very important,
but have limitations. They cannot
duplicate the complicated interactions in a
whole system.
Final testing depends on studies in living,
whole animals or people.
This is actually required by federal law.
Review:
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Why are animals used in medical and
veterinary research?
What could be some limitations of
using non-animal models in
research?
Can Results from Animal Studies
Really Be Applied to Humans?
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They CAN and ARE. Virtually all drugs,
devices and medical procedures have been
developed with some animal research.
This dog, Kodi, underwent hip replacement surgery twice.
Hip replacement surgical techniques were tested first on
animals and now help both animals and people.
What Have We Learned From
Animal Research?
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Animal research has played a major
role in nearly all medical advances
for both humans and other animals.
So what animals have helped with
medical advances?
• Let’s look at some specific examples…
Animal Use in Biomedical
Research
Polio
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Landsteiner and Popper proved it
infectious; able to transmit
disease to monkeys.
Salk and Sabin developed their
vaccine through work with
chickens and monkeys.
Polio was one of the most dreaded childhood diseases of the 20th century.
Polio epidemics have crippled thousands of people, mostly young children;
the disease has caused paralysis and death for much of human history.
Developed in the 1950s, polio vaccines are credited with reducing the
global number of polio cases per year from many hundreds of thousands to
around a thousand.
Animal Use in Biomedical
Research
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Infant Mortality
• Studies in sheep led to use of steroids in treatment
of respiratory distress syndrome, a major cause of
death in premature infants.
• Advances in understanding and treatment of sudden
infant death syndrome (SIDS) came from studies in
rats, mice, dogs, and sheep.
Animal Use in Biomedical
Research
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Cystic Fibrosis
• A major killer of young adults.
• Mouse models led to understanding the
biochemical processes involved in this disorder.
• Genetic therapies on the horizon are an
extension of work in mice.
Animal Use in Biomedical
Research
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High Blood Pressure (HBP)
•Goldblatt linked HBP to kidneys in rats, cats, and dogs.
This research led to treatments for high blood pressure.
•Cushing linked HBP to brains in dogs. This research led
to understanding the nervous system’s influence on
blood pressure and development of drugs to treat it.
Animal Use in Biomedical
Research
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Obesity
• Major risk factor for diabetes mellitus, high blood
pressure, heart attack, stroke and certain cancers
• Epidemic in the United States: 64% of adults are
overweight and 25% are obese
• Mouse models and Zucker obese rats are shedding
new light on causes of overeating, importance of
leptin receptors, and ways that obesity leads to
disease.
Animal Use in Biomedical
Research
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Bioterrorism
• Botulism antitoxin (prevention) was tested in
mice and non-human primates
• The smallpox vaccine was first studied using
cowpox in cattle. In fact, the word “vaccine” is
derived from the word “vaca” which means
cow in Latin.
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AIDS
• Current anti-AIDS treatment developed
in animals have greatly extended life
expectancy and quality of life for AIDS
victims.
• AIDS vaccines are being developed in
monkeys.
Animal Use in Biomedical
Research
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Stroke
• Stroke kills over 150,000 people in the U.S.
each year and cause major disabilities that
can include paralysis, inability to speak,
loss of vision and loss of cognitive function.
• A new treatment for stroke (and one that
can reverse disability due to stroke), was
first studied in rats.
Review:
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Give some examples of how animals
are used in research.
Who benefits from using animals in
research?
Are the animals used in research &
education protected?
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Many federal and local laws ensure
animals used in research & education
are being treated humanely.
These include:
• Animal Welfare Act
• Public Health Service
• IACUCs (committees that must
approve research protocols)
• AAALAC (agency that accredits
animal care facilities)
Animal Welfare Act
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The Animal Welfare Act is a Federal law that Congress
passed to protect warm-blooded animals used in
research, bred for commercial sale, exhibited to the
public, or commercially transported. The law requires
standards of animal care to be established and
enforced.
The Animal Welfare Act applies to dogs, cats, primates,
guinea pigs, hamsters, and farm animals.
We have to be
cared for properly.
It’s the law!!!!!!!
Animal Welfare Act
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Includes rules for mandatory surprise
inspections of animal research facilities.
These federal laws & regulations are in
place to ensure that all research animals
receive:
• Good veterinary care
• Appropriate housing
• Proper Feeding
• Humane handling
• Sound sanitation and ventilation
If research animals are not being
cared for properly, then the
researchers that are responsible are
breaking the law!
Lab animal care
inspection
Institutional Animal Care and Use
Committees (IACUCs)
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Required at all research
institutions.
Committees consist of
veterinarians, scientists,
members of the public.
Without IACUC approval, no
research using animals may
proceed.
Among IACUC considerations are
the measures used to control
potential pain and avoid distress
as well as the potential value of
any scientific outcome from the
proposed studies.
Do scientists care about animals? Do
they treat them well?
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You can’t get good data from unhealthy or mis-treated
animals. It is in the best interest of researchers to treat
lab animals well.
Most animal research facilities have a dedicated staff of
people whose job is to provide daily care for the
animals in their charge.
Research animals must be cared for 7 days a week,
365 days a year regardless of weather or holidays.
“Good science and good animal care go
hand-in-hand.” –FASEB Statement of Principles for the Use of Animals in
Research & Education
The goal is to get
reliable data and
make sure animals
are healthy and well
cared for.
The Three R’s of using animals in
research
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The Three R’s are principles of good
science that scientists must adhere to
when conducting animal-based
research.
First R- Replacement
Using non-animal
alternative wherever they
exist in order that the
only research done using
animals is that which can
be done no other way.
This is synthetic skin.
It can be used in some
research situations.
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Second R- Reduction
• Using as few animals as possible to
attain statistically significant results, as
well as finding ways to cut down on the
number of animals used for any specific
piece of research.
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Third R- Refinement
• Improving animal welfare in laboratories
by enhanced lab technician training,
better enrichment inside the cages for
animals, redesign of an experiment, etc.
This is a laboratory animal care technician. Read about him at:
http://www.kids4research.org/teachers_parents/aces_Gary.asp
Watch a short video of a technician at:
http://www.aboutbioscience.org/laboratory_animal_technician.html
Are lab animals suffering
and in pain?
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Animal use is carefully controlled, particularly if it
might cause pain.
Laws mandate minimizing pain and distress for lab
animals.
Good science relies on controlling an animal’s
health and comfort.
All animal protocols are reviewed and must be
approved by an outside monitoring committee.
Discuss:
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Are there laws to protect animals
used in research?
What are the Three R’s of animal
research?
Animal Welfare and Animal Rights
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Animal welfare is not the same as animal rights.
• Animal welfare is fully supported by the scientific
community.
• We should treat animals with compassion &
provide for their humane treatment.
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Some groups argue that animals have the same
rights as humans and should not be used even to
preserve human life, educate physicians or
veterinarians, or cure human disease.
Animal Rights vs. Animal Welfare
Animal Rights
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Goal: To end all human
exploitation of animals.
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This includes ending:
Raising and slaughtering of
livestock for human or animal
consumption
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Eating meat
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Hunting
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Animal Welfare
Using animals for any medical
or veterinary research, zoos,
circuses, rodeos, horse
shows, dog shows, animals
performing in TV commercials,
shows or movies
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Using Guide-dogs for the blind
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Using Police dogs
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Using Search & rescue dogs
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The practice of owning pets
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Goal: To prevent suffering and
cruelty to animals. To provide
care and good homes for pets in
need.
This includes:
Funding and running of animal
shelters for abandoned, abused,
homeless, or unwanted pets.
Educating the public about the
need for spaying/neutering their
pets
Enforcement of anti-cruelty
statutes
Monitoring and enforcement of
legislation to ensure more
humane standards of care for
livestock, laboratory animals,
performing animals, and pets
Examples of animal rights groups’
views on animal research
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People for Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA) advocates abolishing all animal
research.
• “Even if animal research resulted in a
cure for AIDS, we'd be against it.”
• “I wish everyone would get up and go
into the labs and get the animals out
and burn them down.” --Ingrid Newkirk, PETA
Director
Animal Rights Extremism
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Many animal rights activists pursue their goals legally,
through protests and information campaigns.
However, there are animal rights activist groups who
believe in violence and extreme measures as
acceptable methods to achieve their goal.
• Examples:
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Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty (SHAC)
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Animal Liberation Front (ALF)
This is the burned remains
of the house of Daniel Vasella,
a Swiss pharmaceutical company
CEO. This house was allegedly
burned by animal rights extremists.
Examples of statements from animal
rights extremist groups
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“I think violence is part of the struggle against oppression.”
–Jerry Vlasak, spokesperson for SHAC and ALF
“I don't think you'd have to kill too many [researchers]. I
think for five lives, 10 lives, 15 human lives, we could save a
million, 2 million, 10 million non-human lives.”
–Jerry Vlasak, spokesperson for SHAC and ALF
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“In a war you have to take up arms and people will get
killed, and I can support that kind of action by petrol
bombing and bombs under cars, and probably at a later
stage, the shooting of vivisectors on their doorsteps. It's a
war and there's no other way you can stop vivisectors.”
-Tim Daley, ALF
Crimes Committed on U.S.
Research Labs
What do you know?
• What is the difference between
animal rights and animal
welfare?
• What are some methods used
by animal rights activists?
Now let’s find out what you think.
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What is your opinion about using
animals as models in research?
You are going to do an assignment in
which you will express your views!