Investigative approach to frog gastrocnemius laboratory: potential impact on animal use in teaching laboratories.

1995 ◽  
Vol 269 (6) ◽  
pp. S42
Author(s):  
I G Welsford ◽  
A E Flamm ◽  
J Barr ◽  
B Fenton ◽  
J R Wright ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Student Attitudes ◽  
Animal Experiments ◽  
Animal Experimentation ◽  
Undergraduate Teaching ◽  
Teaching Laboratory ◽  
Laboratory Exercise ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
Negative Comments ◽  
Animal Use ◽  
Investigative Approach

With growing concern over the use of animal experimentation in the teaching of physiology, many biology departments are reassessing the use of animal experiments in the teaching lab. However, it may be just as important to assess how animal experimentation is used in the undergraduate teaching laboratory rather than simply assessing if animal experimentation should be used at all. In our study, sophomore-level life science students enrolled in a core organismal biology course undertook a laboratory exercise designed to elucidate properties of muscles and neuromuscular communication following two protocols: 1) a standard demonstrational model wherein students were told to undertake the exercise as a means to understand physiological processes that they had been exposed to previously in lecture or 2) an investigative model wherein the use of the gastrocnemius preparation was a logical next step in an ongoing investigation, the content of which was driven by student-generated hypotheses. We have observed a significant decrease in a number of the negative comments concerning the use of animals in experimentation (25.6 vs. 3.6%) since the implementation of the investigative approach to the laboratory, suggesting that curricular approaches to the use of animals in the teaching laboratory may have an impact on student attitudes concerning animal experimentation.

Synthesis and Biological Testing of Penicillins: An Investigative Approach to the Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory

2010 ◽  
Vol 87 (6) ◽  
pp. 634-636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ragnhild D. Whitaker ◽  
Laura M. Truhlar ◽  
Deniz Yüksel ◽  
David R. Walt ◽  
Mark D. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Teaching ◽  
Biological Testing ◽  
Teaching Laboratory ◽  
Investigative Approach

scholarly journals Issues of Animal Welfare Regulations on Pharmacy Education and Research in India

2021 ◽  
pp. 185-194
Author(s):  
Anuradha Girme ◽  
Anil Pawar
Keyword(s):  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Animal Experiments ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Animal Experimentation ◽  
Pharmacy Education ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
Alternative Technologies ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Animal Use ◽  
The Impact

Biomedical research is essential to the health and well-being of our society. Animal use for biomedical research has a long history and is routinely performed in new drug discovery and development processes. Animal experiments are an integral part of the curriculum for students in the life sciences, including pharmacy, to learn how to conduct animal experiments. These experiments may cause pain and distress to the animals. Laws and regulations have been enacted to make it illegal to cause undue pain or suffering to animals. These guidelines provide that due and full consideration should be given to alternative technologies not involving animal testing. Despite the movement to minimize animal use in research, pieces of evidence show that there has been a continuous increase in the worldwide use of laboratory animals over 10 years, from 115.2 animals to 192.1 million. The lack of suitable animal-alternative technologies and unavailability of required infrastructures are some of the reasons for animal use. As per directives of the University Grant Commission, the Pharmacy Council of India has decided to prohibit animal experimentation in pharmacy education. This adversely affected teaching and research activities in pharmacy institutions. As a result, the number of seats available for the postgraduate course (Master of Pharmacy) in Pharmacology is decreasing every year. In 2021, the highest number of seats are available for Pharmaceutics (9510, 35%) followed by that for the Pharmacology (4620, 17%). This article mainly focuses on the background of Indian legislation for animal experimentation and the impact of these regulations on animal experiments for pharmacy education and research in India.

scholarly journals Bioethics in animal experimentation

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 169-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.I. Popa ◽  
I. Lascar ◽  
M. Valcu ◽  
Ioana Teona Sebe ◽  
B. Caraban ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surgical Procedures ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Animal Experiments ◽  
Animal Experimentation ◽  
Medicinal Products ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
Moral Problems ◽  
Animal Use ◽  
The Sacrifice

Abstract Animal experiments are used on a large scale worldwide in order to develop or to refine new medicines, medicinal products or surgical procedures. It is morally wrong to cause animals to suffer, this is why animal experimentation causes serious moral problems. We must realize that we have moral and legal obligations when dealing with animals in our care, and this should become our high priority before any experiment. We have to take responsibility for the life of the animals and we have to act honorably regarding this issue because we have been given a trust by society in general which is not to be taken lightly. There is an ongoing societal debate about ethical issues of animal use in science. This paper is addressed to current and future researchers and is an appeal for them to (re)consider their personal views concerning the issue under scrutiny and their responsibility in ensuring that results would make the sacrifice worthwhile.

Epistemology and the Ethics of Animal Experimentation

2021 ◽  
pp. 67-96
Author(s):  
Mylan Engel Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Animal Models ◽  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Human Disease ◽  
Animal Experiments ◽  
Animal Experimentation ◽  
Proper Treatment ◽  
Continued Use

In this chapter, Mylan Engel Jr. argues that animal experimentation is neither epistemically nor morally justified and should be abolished. Engel argues that the only serious attempt at justifying animal experimentation is the benefits argument, according to which animal experiments are justified because the benefits that humans receive from the experiments outweigh the costs imposed on the animal subjects. According to Engel, the benefits we allegedly receive from animal-based biomedical research are primarily epistemic, in that experimenting on animal models is supposed to provide us with knowledge of the origin and proper treatment of human disease. However, Engel argues that animal models are extremely unreliable at predicting how drugs will behave in humans, whether candidate drugs will be safe in humans, and whether candidate drugs will be effective in humans. Engel concludes that animal-based research fails to provide the epistemic, and thereby moral, benefits needed to justify its continued use.

Beyond Animal Rights

2019 ◽  
pp. 22-44
Author(s):  
Celia E. Deane-Drummond
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Animal Rights ◽  
Categorical Imperative ◽  
Animal Experimentation ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Social Agenda ◽  
Moral World ◽  
Animal Use

This chapter sets out the philosophical context for current debates in animal ethics, including abolitionist versions of animal rights that are against all forms of animal use, including animal experimentation and agriculture. The author argues that while a more muted version of animal rights is more convincing, rights language has proved inadequate to the modest task of shifting to more humane treatments of other animals. There are also theoretical problems associated with the use of rights language that itself is premised on a particular approach to social justice. Utilitarian advocates following Peter Singer do not fare much better in that his liberationist agenda is ethically ambiguous by his association of speciesism with racist and even sexist views. This approach could just as easily diminish women and those of colour, or deny human dignity, all of which have a strong political and social agenda, rather than elevating concern for other animals. Even anti-speciesism still relies on a comparative approach that begins by widening the moral world of humans to sentient others, even while, ironically perhaps, denying the special significance of the human species. Christine Korsgaard has made the most convincing case so far for rehabilitating Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative so that it is extended to other animals. Rather more promising is the largely theoretical approach of Peter Scott’s argument for postnatural right and Cynthia Willett’s interspecies ethics to begin to map out the multispecies frameworks.

The Implications of Microarray Technology for Animal Use in Scientific Research

2002 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth S. Jenkins ◽  
Caren Broadhead ◽  
Robert D. Combes
Keyword(s):  
Animal Studies ◽  
Animal Experiments ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Toxicity Testing ◽  
Laboratory Animals ◽  
Biological Research ◽  
Microarray Technology ◽  
Single Experiment ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Animal Use

Microarray technology has the potential to affect the number of laboratory animals used, the severity of animal experiments, and the development of non-animal alternatives in several areas of scientific research. Microarrays can contain hundreds or thousands of microscopic spots of DNA, immobilised on a solid support, and their use enables global patterns of gene expression to be determined in a single experiment. This technology is being used to improve our understanding of the operation of biological systems during health and disease, and their responses to chemical insults. Although it is impossible to predict with certainty any future trends regarding animal use, microarray technology might not initially reduce animal use, as is often claimed to be the case. The accelerated pace of research as a result of the use of microarrays could increase overall animal use in basic and applied biological research, by increasing the numbers of interesting genes identified for further analysis, and the number of potential targets for drug development. Each new lead will require further evaluation in studies that could involve animals. In toxicity testing, microarray studies could lead to increases in animal studies, if further confirmatory and other studies are performed. However, before such technology can be used more extensively, several technical problems need to be overcome, and the relevance of the data to biological processes needs to be assessed. Were microarray technology to be used in the manner envisaged by its protagonists, there need to be efforts to increase the likelihood that its application will create new opportunities for reducing, refining and replacing animal use. This comment is a critical assessment of the possible implications of the application of microarray technology on animal experimentation in various research areas, and makes some recommendations for maximising the application of the Three Rs.

Brazil Starts to Ban Animal Use in Higher Education: A Positive and Progressive Development

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 235-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita de Cássia Maria Garcia ◽  
Nick Jukes ◽  
Vanessa Bones ◽  
Rosangela Gebara ◽  
Mariângela Freitas de Almeida Souza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Animal Experiments ◽  
National Council ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Humane Education ◽  
Progressive Development ◽  
Brazilian Government ◽  
Veterinary Profession ◽  
Historic Landmark ◽  
Animal Use ◽  
Education In Brazil

The Brazilian government has published a resolution that bans animal use in some practical classes within undergraduate and high school technical education from April 2019. Resolution No. 38/2018, issued by the National Council for the Control of Animal Experimentation (CONCEA), bans the killing of animals for dissection purposes and animal experiments in practical classes that do not involve the acquisition of new skills. The initial call for the ban was by the Brazilian Network for Humane Education (RedEH), an independent body comprising Brazilian professors and international collaborators dedicated to the implementation of replacement alternatives in education. The call was supported by InterNICHE, and many professors and other international organisations. The Brazilian Council of Veterinary Medicine, which is responsible for regulating the veterinary profession in Brazil, also stated its support for humane education and for the ban. The call was the first formal request, and it eventually led to the first legal resolution for the replacement of animal use in education in Brazil. This represents an important historic landmark in the advancement of science education.

scholarly journals Anesthetic MS-222 eliminates nerve and muscle activity in frogs used for physiology teaching laboratories

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-75
Author(s):  
Scott Medler
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Cold Water ◽  
Normal Function ◽  
Muscle Physiology ◽  
Teaching Laboratory ◽  
Physiological Processes ◽  
Muscle Tissues ◽  
Cold Water Bath ◽  
Recent Edition ◽  
Tricaine Methanesulfonate

Frogs are routinely used in physiology teaching laboratories to demonstrate important physiological processes. There have been recent directives that promote the use of the anesthetic MS-222 (tricaine methanesulfonate), rather than lowering body temperature with a cold water bath to prepare reptiles and amphibians for physiological experiments or euthanasia. Indeed, the most recent edition of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals proclaims that chilling in water is not an appropriate method and advocates for the usage of MS-222 or other anesthetics. However, prominent researchers have responded to this position by highlighting evidence that cooling ectothermic vertebrates is, in fact, an effective and appropriate method. Furthermore, MS-222 is a known voltage-gated Na+ channel blocker, and this anesthetic’s impact on the physiology of excitable tissues suggests that its use might be incompatible with experiments on nerve and muscle tissues. In the present study, I examined the effects of MS-222 at a concentration of 1.5 g/l on nerve, skeletal muscle, and cardiac muscle physiology of frogs. I found that immersion of frogs in this anesthetic blocked basic nerve and muscle physiology, making the frogs unsuitable for laboratory experiments. Applying MS-222 directly to the sciatic nerve dramatically blocked normal excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal muscle preparations, and direct application to the heart caused the organs to stop contracting. Based on these results, I conclude that MS-222 at the concentration studied may be incompatible with physiological preparations that rely on electrically excitable tissues for their normal function. Physiology educators who must use MS-222 with frogs should empirically determine an appropriate dosage and recovery time before using the anesthetic in the teaching laboratory.

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