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.

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.

scholarly journals Volume 25, Issue 1 (March 2021) Physiol Pharmacol 2021, 25(1): 1-6 | Back to browse issues page 10.32598/ppj.25.1.10 XML Print Download citation: BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks Send citation to: Mendeley Zotero RefWorks Najafi H, Zarei R, Alimoradian A, Asafari M, Mohammadi M, Samadi F, et al . A review on humane endpoints in animal experimentation for biomedical research. Physiol Pharmacol. 2021; 25 (1) :1-6 URL: http://ppj.phypha.ir/article-1-1606-en.html A review on humane endpoints in animal experimentation for biomedical research

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Houshang Najafi ◽  
◽  
Reza Zarei ◽  
Abbas Alimoradian ◽  
Mohaddeseh Asafari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomedical Research ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Scientific Information ◽  
Animal Experimentation ◽  
Laboratory Animals ◽  
Medical Sciences ◽  
Animal Suffering ◽  
Reference Manager ◽  
Animal Use

Introduction: The use of animals in experiments and their role in the development of medical sciences are undeniable. Humane endpoints terminate pain and distress in laboratory animals, which are experimented in painful procedures and an involuntary manner. This study was going to review studies published in this area to assist researchers in developing their approach. Methods: Articles used in this review study were obtained from relevant databases including Pubmed, Scopus, Science Direct, OVID, SID, Magiran and Google scholar. Results: “Humane endpoints” or killing the animal humanely means the point at which an experimental animal’s pain and/or distress is terminated. This pain and distress are not necessarily accompanied by clinical symptoms and it can also be recognized by biochemical, physiological and molecular biomarkers testing. Conclusion: Regarding the extensive use of laboratory animals, the aim is not only to take care of animals but also to develop knowledge and prevent unintentional animal suffering and death. Increasing awareness of ethical issues regarding research animal use needs scientific information and designing experiments, which are terminated immediately after achieving main goals. Otherwise, it threatens the life of animal and leads to the animal suffering.

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 Flying Car Transportation System: Advances, Techniques, and Challenges

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaofeng pan ◽  
Mohamed-Slim Alouini
Keyword(s):  
Public Transportation ◽  
Traffic Congestion ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Transportation Systems ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Environmental Friendliness ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
Inherent Nature ◽  
Car Transportation

In order to fulfill transportation demands, people have well-explored ground, waterborne, and high-altitude spaces (HAS) for transportation purposes, as well as the underground space under cities (namely, subway systems). However, due to the increased burdens of population and urbanization in recent decades, huge pressures on public transportation and freight traffic are introduced to cities, plaguing the governors and constraining the development of economics. By observing the fact that near-ground space (NGS) has rarely been utilized, researchers and practitioners started to re-examine, propose and develop flying cars, which are not a totally novel idea, aiming at solving the traffic congestion problem and releasing the strains of cities. Flying cars completely differ from traditional grounded transportation systems, where automobiles/trains are suffering track limitations and are also different from the air flights in HAS for long-distance transfer. Therefore, while observing the lack of specific literature on flying cars and flying car transportation systems (FCTS), this paper is motivated to study the advances, techniques, and challenges of FCTS imposed by the inherent nature of NGS transportation and to devise useful proposals for facilitating the construction and commercialization of FCTS, as well as to facilitate the readers understanding of the incoming FCTS. We first introduce the increased requirements for transportation and address the advantages of flying cars. Next, a brief overview of the developing history of flying cars is presented in view of both timeline and technique categories. Then, we discuss and compare the state of the art in the design of flying cars, including take-off \& landing (TOL) modes, pilot modes, operation modes, and power types, which are respectively related to the adaptability, flexibility & comfort, stability & complexity, environmental friendliness of flying cars. Additionally, since large-scale operations of flying cars can improve the aforementioned transportation problem, we also introduce the designs of FCTS, including path and trajectory planning, supporting facilities and commercial designs. Finally, we discuss the challenges which might be faced while developing and commercializing FCTS from three aspects: safety issues, commercial issues, and ethical issues.

scholarly journals The public accountability of social platforms: lessons from a study on bots and trolls in the Brexit campaign

2018 ◽  
Vol 376 (2128) ◽  
pp. 20180003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Bastos ◽  
Dan Mercea
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Information Warfare ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Application Programming ◽  
Access To Data ◽  
The Uk

In this article, we review our study of 13 493 bot-like Twitter accounts that tweeted during the UK European Union membership referendum debate and disappeared from the platform after the ballot. We discuss the methodological challenges and lessons learned from a study that emerged in a period of increasing weaponization of social media and mounting concerns about information warfare. We address the challenges and shortcomings involved in bot detection, the extent to which disinformation campaigns on social media are effective, valid metrics for user exposure, activation and engagement in the context of disinformation campaigns, unsupervised and supervised posting protocols, along with infrastructure and ethical issues associated with social sciences research based on large-scale social media data. We argue for improving researchers' access to data associated with contentious issues and suggest that social media platforms should offer public application programming interfaces to allow researchers access to content generated on their networks. We conclude with reflections on the relevance of this research agenda to public policy. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The growing ubiquity of algorithms in society: implications, impacts and innovations'.

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.

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