Using Animals in Research and Education

1. Copyright 2010. PEER.tamu.edu Using Animals in Research and Education

2. Quick Questions: • 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?

3. Why Do We Need To Use Animals for Research & Teaching? • 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

4. Why Do We Need To Use Animals for Research & Teaching? • 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

5. Can Computer Models and Cell Cultures Replace Animal Research? • 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.

6. Review: Why are animals used in medical and veterinary research? What could be some limitations of using non-animal models in research?

7. Can Results from Animal Studies Really Be Applied to Humans? • 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.

8. What Have We Learned From Animal Research? • 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…

9. Animal Use in Biomedical Research Polio • 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.

10. Animal Use in Biomedical Research • 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.

11. Animal Use in Biomedical Research • 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.

12. Animal Use in Biomedical Research • 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.

13. Animal Use in Biomedical Research • 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.

14. Animal Use in Biomedical Research • 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.

15. 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.

16. Animal Use in Biomedical Research • 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.

17. Review: Give some examples of how animals are used in research. Who benefits from using animals in research?

18. Are the animals used in research & education protected? • 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)

19. Animal Welfare Act • 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!!!!!!!

20. Animal Welfare Act • 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

21. Lab animal care inspection If research animals are not being cared for properly, then the researchers that are responsible are breaking the law!

22. Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs) • 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.

23. Do scientists care about animals? Do they treat them well? • 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.

24. “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.

25. The Three R’s of using animals in 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. The Three R’sare principles of good science that scientists must adhere to when conducting animal-based research.

26. 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.

27. This is a laboratory animal care technician. Read about him at: http://www.kids4research.org/teachers_parents/aces_Gary.aspWatch a short video of a technician at: http://www.aboutbioscience.org/laboratory_animal_technician.html • 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.

28. Are lab animals suffering and in pain? • 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.

29. Discuss: Are there laws to protect animals used in research? What are the Three R’s of animal research?

30. Animal Welfare and Animal Rights • 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. • 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.

31. Animal Rights vs. Animal Welfare Animal Rights Animal Welfare 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 • Goal: To end all human exploitation of animals. • This includes ending: • Raising and slaughtering of livestock for human or animal consumption • Eating meat • Hunting • Using animals for any medical or veterinary research, zoos, circuses, rodeos, horse shows, dog shows, animals performing in TV commercials, shows or movies  • Using Guide-dogs for the blind • Using Police dogs • Using Search & rescue dogs • The practice of owning pets

32. Examples of animal rights groups’ views on animal research • 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

33. Animal Rights Extremism • 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: • Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty (SHAC) • 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.

34. Examples of statements from animal rights extremist groups • “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 • “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

35. Crimes Committed on U.S. Research Labs

36. What do you know? What is the difference between animal rights and animal welfare? What are some methods used by animal rights activists?

37. Now let’s find out what you think. 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!