1. Objectives

Teacher's' Objectives
After completing this module, you should be able to simply yet effectively teach:
1.)    The extent of the use of animals in research in the United States today
2.)    The risks and benefits of using animals in research and how some of these risks have been minimized by current regulations
3.)    The ethical questions raised by using higher-order primates in medical research

Curriculum Integration Ideas
This brief may be used in life science classes during units for topics including:
1.)    The scientific method and medical progress
2.)    Basic concepts in research such as testing a hypothesis, safety trials, etc
3.)    Public policy discussions on research regulation

2.  Animals In Research Today

It is thought that up to 100 million vertebrate animals are used in research around the world every year.  Vertebrates are animals with a backbone, like humans.  Many more non-vertebrates such as worms and flies are also used.  These animals are often bred specifically for research, but can also be caught from the wild or bought from pounds.  Most of these animals are euthanized, or put down, after the experiments are over.  The types of animals include mice and rats, fish, rabbits, cats, dogs, monkeys, and many many others though the vast majority of the animals used are rats and mice.  The research is just as varied as the animals themselves and includes medical, cosmetic testing, defense, genetic, and behavioral research just to name a few.  This research is done by the government, universities, pharmaceutical companies, as well as other commercial organizations.

Because of concern over how animals were being treated in labs, the World Health Organization issued principles for researchers that used animals to follow.  The United States decided even stricter regulations were needed so put in place the requirement for all animal research to be first approved by an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).  IACUC's are made up of a variety of professionals, including a veterinarian.  These committees ensure the research that is being done satisfies the 3 Rs - reduction, replacement, and refinement.  Reduction means that the research uses the fewest number of animals possible to conduct quality scientific research.  Replacement is that whenever it is possible, lower-order animals such as rats and mice are used instead of higher-order animals such as monkeys.  Finally, refinement is when the research being done is carefully modified so that the least amount of pain and suffering is inflicted upon the animals.

Many advances have been made through using animals in research.  Immunizations against polio, mumps, rubella and many other diseases were first developed and tested on animals.  They have now saved countless millions of human lives.  New medical technologies such as the MRI, new chemotherapeutic drugs, and surgical technologies are first practiced on animals.  Also, animals are used in Defense Department research to simulate how humans would be affected by biological warfare, nuclear weapons, etc.  Finally, cosmetic companies test their products on animals to ensure they are safe for human use.

3. A Closer Look - Baboons in Medical Research

So if animal research has so many benefits, why are all those regulations in place?  Well, not all of the research is simple.  Some can cause a lot of pain and suffering to the animal.  An example, is the head trauma researching being done at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1980s on baboons.  Baboons are primates, the specific type of vertebrates that humans also are.  The research involved causing whiplash brain injuries in the baboons in hopes of better understanding how car accidents and sports injuries affected humans.  The baboons were kept alive for several weeks to study their behavior, euthanized, and their brains studied to determine the extent of the damage. 

4.  What Are Some Of The Ethical Issues Raised?

There is a wide variety of ethical issues that have been raised by the use of animals in research, and in particular, the use of non-human primates such as the baboon described above.  Some of these are -

Animal Rights and Moral Value
Many people feel a strong connection to animals whether they have them for pets, see them at zoos, or eat them for food.  Tom Regan, a philosopher, believes that animals have moral value, just like humans do.  In his book, The Case for Animal Rights, he argues that since most animals after the age of one can perceive and understand the world around them, they have the right to live without human interference.  Therefore, humans should not do animal research since it is wrong to deprive an animal of this right.  Just as it would be wrong to conduct the whiplash brain injury research shown above on a human being, it is wrong to do it on animals. 

Others philosophers feel that because animals can feel pain and suffer, they should be respected.  Peter Singer champions this view in his book, Animal Liberation.  Singer is a utilitarian - good and bad actions are distinguished by the amount of happiness or suffering they produce.  In his view, a good action produces the greatest benefit to the greatest number.  Singer believes that animal interests should be counted since they can experience pain and suffering.  

Finally, still others think that since animals are not capable of conscious thought and the ability to reason, they do not have any moral worth.  Therefore, any kind of research on animals is acceptable.  What do you think?

Comparative Utility
Many scientists argue that animal research should continue to be used because we have no replacement for it.  Many of the scientific discoveries and medical miracles that allow us to live life comfortably only were possible through the use of animals in research.  It is better to experiment on rats and rabbits then people, they argue.  This is called comparative utility.  This means that it is better to make discoveries that save human lives by experimenting on animals, rather than not experiment on animals and therefore, not have these advancements.  Others, however, argue that much of this research is not truly helping humans.  Where do you draw the line?  Should cosmetic companies be allowed to test new eye shadows on rabbits before it is marketed to millions of women around the world?  Should pharmaceutical companies be allowed to test a new antibiotic for ear infections on chimpanzees before it is prescribed to millions of children?

Anthropocentrism
One of the "R's" of animal research is replacement of higher-order animals with those of lower-orders.  Is this fair?  Is it somehow better to use a rat than a chimpanzee?  Some people argue that, yes, this is the case.  Since chimpanzees are more intelligent, it is better to use a lesser-animal.  Others claim that his is anthropocentrism and all animals have lives of equal worth.  Anthropocentrism is human-centeredness.  For example, because monkeys look more like us, use tools like we do, form families like we do, we identify with them more and want to protect them more than lower-order animals that do not have these human qualities.  Is this right or should a rat have an equal right to life in research?

5.  Review Questions

1.    Explain some of the uses of animals in research currently
2.    Discuss some of the regulations in place, including the 3 R's
3.    Discuss your reaction to the multimedia video clip.  Why do you think you feel this way?
4.    What are some of the ethical issues that are raised by using animals in research?
5.    Define anthropocentrism and give a few examples of where else humans show this quality.

References

1.    National Institutes of Health, Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare
2.    The National Academies, Institute for Laboratory Animal Research
3.    Centers for Disease Control, Overview of Animals In Scientific Research
4.    Philadelphia City Paper, "Video Killed The Baboon Lab"