Msc PHY Animal ethics in biomedical laboratories.pptx

animal handling

1. The Ethics of Animal Research

2. Animal Testing The use of animals in scientific testing has always been, and will continue to be a controversial subject. While controversial, it is an unavoidable fact that animal research has allowed the development of medicines and vaccines, surgical techniques and advanced scientific understanding in many areas.

3. Animal Testing It is estimated that between 50 and 100 million animals are used in research each year. Some are purpose bred for testing but many are still caught in the wild. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines a painful procedure as one that would “reasonably be expected to cause more than slight or momentary pain or distress in a human being to which the procedure was applied”

4. Measuring Pain and Suffering in Animal Testing In the UK experiments are classified as mild, moderate or substantial in the amount of suffering they cause an animal. A fourth category of unclassified is used when the animal is anaesthetized but killed before regaining consciousness.

5. Is Animal Testing Morally Right? Advocates for animal testing say: Human life has greater intrinsic value than animal life Legislation protects all lab animals from cruelty or mistreatment Millions of animals are killed every year for food, is medical research not a more worthy death Few animals feel pain and are killed before they suffer The argument between pro-animal testing parties and opponents to animal testing hinges on whether it is ethical.

6. PROS AND CONS ARGUEMENT Pro 1 Animal testing contributes to life-saving cures and treatments for humans and animals alike. To name just a few examples, animal research has contributed to major advances in treating conditions including breast cancer, brain injury, childhood leukemia, cystic fibrosis, multiple sclerosis, and tuberculosis. https://animal-testing.procon.org/ Con 1 Animal testing is cruel and inhumane. Animals used in experiments are commonly subjected to force feeding, food and water deprivation, the infliction of burns and other wounds to study the healing process, the infliction of pain to study its effects and remedies, and “killing by carbon dioxide asphyxiation, neck-breaking, decapitation, or other means,” according to Humane Society International.

7. Pro 2 Animals are appropriate research subjects because they are similar to human beings in many ways. Chimpanzees share 99% of their DNA with humans, and mice are 98% genetically similar to humans. All mammals, including humans, are descended from common ancestors, and all have the same set of organs (heart, kidneys, lungs, etc.) that function in essentially the same way with the help of a bloodstream and central nervous system. Con 2 Animal tests do not reliably predict results in human beings. 94% of drugs that pass animal tests fail in human clinical trials. Over 100 stroke drugs and over 85 HIV vaccines failed in humans after succeeding in animal trials. Nearly 150 clinical trials (human tests) of treatments to reduce inflammation in critically ill patients have been undertaken, and all of them failed, despite being successful in animal tests.

8. Pro 3 Animal research is highly regulated, with laws in place to protect animals from mistreatment. In addition to local and state laws and guidelines, animal research has been regulated by the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) since 1966. As well as stipulating minimum housing standards for research animals (enclosure size, temperature, access to clean food and water, and others), the AWA also requires regular inspections by veterinarians Con 3 Alternative testing methods now exist that can replace the need for animals. Other research methods such as in vitro testing (tests done on human cells or tissue in a petri dish) offer opportunities to reduce or replace animal testing. Technological advancements in 3D printing allow the possibility for tissue bioprinting: a French company is working to bioprint a liver that can test the toxicity of a drug. Artificial human skin, such as the commercially available products EpiDerm and ThinCert , can be made from sheets of human skin cells grown in test tubes or plastic wells and may produce more useful results than testing chemicals on animal skin.

9. Pros summary Animals are involved in many kinds of research and innovation, ranging from fundamental biological and medical research aimed at new discoveries, to studies aimed at: improving animal health and welfare understanding animal behaviour and human relationships with animals improving agricultural practices and technologies aiding conservation efforts Animals are used to study human and animal biology in health and disease, to determine the safety and efficacy of potential new treatments, as well as in the validation of alternative approaches. Such research has provided, and continues to provide, the important information for advancing: our understanding of how living organisms function improvements in medical and veterinary knowledge, education and practice

10. Cons summary 1. Violation of animal rights 2 . Animal testing is archaic 3. Animal testing is wasteful and expensive 4 . Inaccurate test results 5 . Availability of decent alternatives

11. Is Animal Testing Morally Right? Opponents to animal testing say: Animals have as much right to live as humans Strict controls have not prevented some animals being abused, though such instances are rare Deaths for research are unnecessary Animals suffer while they are locked up and how do we know when they do and don’t feel pain

12. What are the principles of the 3Rs in animal research? The guiding principles for the use of animals in research are the three R’s: Replacement: Use alternative, non-animal methods to achieve the same scientific aim Reduction: Use statistical methods so that a smaller number of animals are required Refinement: Improve the experiments so that animals do not suffer

13. Ethical Dilemmas British law requires that any new medicinal drug to be used on humans must undergo a substantial testing program including testing on at least two different species of live mammal. One of which must be a large non-rodent. This of course means that any company wanting to release a medical drug must, by law, undertake animal testing regardless of how they fell about it ethically.

14. Before any decision to use animals is made, independent ethical assessments are conducted to assess if the research and procedures are justified. Review by the body compares the potential benefits of the proposed experiments with the likely costs in terms of any possible suffering. The following points are considered: Needs and benefits Costs and harms (direct) Associated harms (unrelated to the research purpose) Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body

15. The Importance of Animals in Biomedical Research American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 9190 Crestwyn Hills Drive, Memphis, TN

16. Throughout history, scientists have been solving medical problems, developing new techniques and treatments, and curing diseases – all by using animals in biomedical research. How exactly has animal research helped you and your family? Vaccinations for polio, diphtheria, mumps, measles, rubella, pertussis, and hepatitis. Treatments for asthma, severe burns, juvenile diabetes, leukemia, newborn sickness and premature births. Prevention and treatment of birth defects. Antibiotics for a variety of bacterial infections. Microsurgery to reattach severed limbs. Remedies for childhood poisonings. Management of epilepsy, cystic fibrosis. Organ transplants. Correction of congenital heart defects. Without animal research: Polio would kill or cripple thousands of unvaccinated adults and children each year. Most of the nation’s one million insulin-dependent diabetics would be dead

17. Chemotherapy wouldn’t exist – and couldn’t save 70 percent of children who now survive acute lymphocytic leukemia. People disabled by strokes or spinal cord injuries could not benefit from rehabilitation techniques. Newborns who develop jaundice each year would contract cerebral palsy, now preventable through phototherapy. There would be no kidney dialysis. Surgery of any type would be rare – and extremely painful – because there would be no anesthesia. Smallpox, which has been eradicated, would continue unchecked. Millions of dogs, cats, other pets and farm animals would have died from anthrax, distemper, canine parvovirus, feline leukemia, rabies and more than 200 other diseases now preventable.

18. They have either been eradicated or can be controlled due to findings from research using animals. Example: Poliomyelitis (Polio). Leprosy According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over the past fifteen years, around 11 million leprosy patients have been cured. The prevalence rate of the disease has dropped by 85% and leprosy has been eliminated from 98 countries. Smallpox On May delegates to the Thirty-third World Health Assembly, representing all 155 Member States of the World Health Organization, unanimously accepted the conclusions of the Global Commission for the Certification of Smallpox Eradication (World Health Organization, 1980), namely that: Smallpox eradication had been achieved throughout the world.

19. Life-saving surgical procedures; Cancer therapies; Organ transplantation; Vaccines; Safe consumer products; and Treatments and cures for countless other medical disorders and diseases. Daily, from vaccinations to prevent measles to product safety testing, the knowledge gained from animals used in research helps every single one of us, our pets, and the wildlife around us. Reproductive techniques discovered through animal research can potentially save many endangered wildlife species from extinction. Virtually every major medical advance for both humans and animals has been achieved through biomedical research using animal models to study and find a cure for a disease and through animal testing to prove the safety and efficacy of a new treatment.

20. Susceptible to the same diseases that affect humans –Both humans and animals share some of the same diseases including many cancers, diabetes, and heart diseases. One example of this similarity is the dog whose cardiovascular system closely resembles that of the human. Because of this, the dog has been critical to understanding diseases that affect the heart and circulatory system. A few of the many successful medical breakthroughs in this one body system that can be attributed to the dog and that are now commonly applied to humans includes: Heart transplantation Development of the heart-lung machine which allows surgeons to keep the patient alive while performing heart surgery Coronary bypass surgery Artificial heart valves used to replace damaged or defective valves Pacemaker implantation needed to regulate an abnormal heartbeat Angioplasty used to unblock clogged coronary arteries

21. Laboratory mice are used in research more often than any other animal species; These mice, plus other rodents such as rats and hamsters, make up more than 90% of the total number of animals needed; Other animal species, including dogs, cats, rabbits, farm animals, fish, frogs, birds, nonhuman primates, and many others, make up the remaining 10% of animals needed in research. Laboratory mice are used in research more often than any other animal species; It is estimated that nearly 20 million rodents are bred for research annually. Mice are used for studies of cancer, aging, AIDS, immunology, and genetics. They are also used to learn and perfect embryo transfer techniques in humans and domestic and endangered animal species.