Biology 2672a

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Biology 2672a

• Animals in teaching and research

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Vivisection

• The practice of working on live (rather than
  dead) organisms
• the science of life is a superb and dazzlingly
  lighted hall which may be reached only by passing
  through a long and ghastly kitchen
• Claude Bernard (1813-1878)
• Father of Physiology
• Coined term Homeostasis

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There are undeniable benefits to using animals in
research

• Animal models for diseases or basic science
  phenomena
• Considerable medical advances
• Enables exhaustive testing of pharmaceuticals
  (and other things) before use on humans

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Ethics of using animals as research subjects
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) Animals are
sentient and humans are obliged against cruelty
Descartes (1596-1650) Animals have no souls,
minds or reason
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) The capacity to suffer
should be the benchmark for how we treat other
creatures
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Rise of physiology (and vivsection) in the 19th
Century

• RSPCA (UK) - 1824
• ASPCA (USA) - 1866
• Anti-vivisection society (France)
• Started in 1883 by Claude Bernards wife (!)
• Darwin
• "You ask about my opinion on vivisection. I quite
  agree that it is justifiable for real
  investigations on physiology but not for mere
  damnable and detestable curiosity. It is a
  subject which makes me sick with horror, so I
  will not say another word about it, else I shall
  not sleep to-night. (1871)

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Modern Views

• Generally Utilitarian (greatest common good)
• Need to justify necessity
• Need to find replacements
• Peer review
• Animal use committees
• Can be viewed as consenting on behalf of the
  animal

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Animal rights
Peter Singer (1946- )

• Argues against speciesism
• Equality is generally based on prescription, not
  fact
• Medical use ok if benefits outweigh harm done
• Everybody should be vegetarian or (preferably)
  vegan

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Animal Testing

• Safety testing
• pouring cosmetics in rabbits eyes
• Now phased out
• Cell lines (toxicity), human trials
  (hypoallergenic)
• Still done for most pharmaceuticals prior to
  clinical trials

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Regulated animal use

• Canadian Council for Animal Care
• "The use of animals in research, teaching, and
  testing is acceptable ONLY if it promises to
  contribute to understanding of fundamental
  biological principles, or to the development of
  knowledge that can reasonably be expected to
  benefit humans or animals.
• Has power to withhold grant agency money
• Policies are administered locally by the
  University Council on Animal Care (UCAC)

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The 3R Principle

• Replace animal models wherever possible
• Reduce numbers of animals used
• Refine animal use procedures

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The 3Rs in Biology 2672

• Replace animal models
• Introduction of insect SCP lab (insects arent
  animals by CCAC definitions)
• Reduce numbers of animals
• We use mice on rotation minimises numbers
  whilst maintaining relatively low stress for the
  mice
• Refine Procedures
• Use tried-and true methods that work fine so
  long as students follow instructions and are
  careful!

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UCAC

• Approve use of animals for research and teaching
• Everything, from handling to invasive surgical
  experiments
• From acquisition to the point where the animal is
  euthanized
• Make case-by-case assessments of proposals

Vertebrates, cephalopods, some large crustaceans
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UCAC not much to say explicitly on teaching

• Peer review for pedagogical merit shall consist
  of, at minimum, a review at a department level to
  be summarized in the Pedagogical Merit Review
  form and signed by the Chair of the Department
• Painful experiments or multiple invasive
  procedures on animals conducted solely for
  classroom student instruction, or for
  demonstration of established scientific knowledge
  cannot be justified

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The Procedure

• I put together a proposal to use animals in
  teaching
• Includes names of all TAs and the training they
  will receive
• Detailed 23 pages long lab manual
• Informally reviewed by a veterinarian
• Changes made, formally submitted to AUS
• Renewal application every year, Full proposal
  every 5th year.

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The application

• Describe the purpose of your use of animals
• Describe the possible replacement, refinement
  and reduction alternatives to animal use, and
  offer justification if these are not employed
• Indicate how you have determined your animal
  numbers

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Animal use subcomittee

• Director, Animal Care UWO
• Biosafety officer, UWO
• 2 x profs from Medical Sciences
• 3 x researchers from Lawson Health research
  Institute
• 1 x prof from Robarts Institute
• 1 x prof from Psychology
• 1 x prof from Biology
• 1 x technician who works with animal care
• 1 x grad student
• 5 x others
• At least 4 non-users of animals
• At least three from outside UWO community
• Meets 11 times/year

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Scientists as public citizens

• In performing public funded research, scientists
  are held to higher standards than private
  citizens
• Fish
• specified care and monitoring, painless
  euthanasia
• Vs sport fishing as a private citizen...

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All very well for medical research what about
non-medical?

• Establishing benefits can be harder
• Fundamental biological principles
• Square peg, round hole
• e.g. field ecology studies

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Research animal use in context

• 2006 CCAC reports 2,535,989 animals used in
  research or University teaching
• 843,881 Fish (including zebrafish)
• 910,540 Mice (about 52 in Biol 272)
• 331,560 Rats
• Catchable size rainbow trout released in BC lakes
  in 2006
• 135,745
• Sockeye Salmon catch 2006
• 10,106 tonnes (3.3 million 3 kg fish)
• No stats available for numbers of rats and mice
  killed in pest control operations

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Our responsibilities

• Avoid unnecessary pain
• Avoid wasteful use of animals
• Respect animals, never treat them with contempt
• Follow this through to making good use of the
  information
• Obligation to treat both teaching and research
  data as important

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Ethics of using non-animal animals and plants

• A Drosophila experiment could use 20,000 flies
• Consideration tends to be for population-level
  issues
• Oversampling
• Habitat damage
• Nevertheless, we try to respect the animals we
  work with, and try not to waste life

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End of Lecture Quiz 3 material
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Reading for Tuesday

• Breathing in Air
• Pp 561-572
• Pp 575-579