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Full-Text Articles in Laboratory and Basic Science Research

Contesting Animal Experiments Through Ethics And Epistemology: In Defense Of A Political Critique Of Animal Experimentation, Arianna Ferrari Jan 2019

Contesting Animal Experiments Through Ethics And Epistemology: In Defense Of A Political Critique Of Animal Experimentation, Arianna Ferrari

Professional Science Research Ethics Collection

Generally, an animal experiment can be defined as an intervention on an animal, which causes suffering, harm, and distress, for scientific purposes. In this definition, animal experiments differ from more general scientific investigations concerning animals, such as observational studies in the wild in the fields of ethology or conservation, in which animals are involved but may not be harmed. Nowadays, the use of the term vivisection, in the case of animal experiments, is very controversial. This term originally referred to the cutting of living bodies for scientific purposes and has a long conceptual history (Maehle, 1992). In ancient times, it …


How To Evaluate The Science Of Non-Human Animal Use In Biomedical Research And Testing: A Proposed Format For Debate, Ray Greek, Lisa A. Kramer Jan 2019

How To Evaluate The Science Of Non-Human Animal Use In Biomedical Research And Testing: A Proposed Format For Debate, Ray Greek, Lisa A. Kramer

Validation of Alternative Methods Collection

Over time, the interpretation of science has occasionally been corrupted by vested interest groups, be they financially motivated or ego driven. Scientific consensus and widespread public beliefs usually catch up with the evidence, but this can take a very long time and often costs lives. The use of non-human animals in biomedical research and testing is a scientific endeavor and, as such, can and should be evaluated in light of the best science currently available. But facts that have been accepted in all areas of science are routinely ignored or called into question by well-funded, vested interest groups, compromising the …


Moving Beyond The Welfare Standard Of Psychological Well-Being For Nonhuman Primates: The Case Of Chimpanzees, John P. Gluck Apr 2014

Moving Beyond The Welfare Standard Of Psychological Well-Being For Nonhuman Primates: The Case Of Chimpanzees, John P. Gluck

Experimentation Collection

Since 1985, the US Animal Welfare Act and Public Health Service policy have required that researchers using nonhuman primates in biomedical and behavioral research develop a plan ‘‘for a physical environment adequate to promote the psychological well-being of primates.’’ In pursuing this charge, housing attributes such as social companionship, opportunities to express species-typical behavior, suitable space for expanded locomotor activity, and nonstressful relationships with laboratory personnel are dimensions that have dominated the discussion. Regulators were careful not to direct a specific set of prescriptions (i.e., engineering standards) for the attainment of these goals, but to leave the design of the …


Inflammatory Findings On Species Extrapolations: Humans Are Definitely No 70-Kg Mice, Marcel Leist, Thomas Hartung Apr 2013

Inflammatory Findings On Species Extrapolations: Humans Are Definitely No 70-Kg Mice, Marcel Leist, Thomas Hartung

Validation of Alternative Methods Collection

Modern toxicology has embraced in vitro methods, and major hopes are based on the Omics technologies and systems biology approaches they bring along (Hartung and McBride in ALTEX 28(2):83–93, 2011; Hartung et al. in ALTEX 29(2):119–28, 2012). A culture of stringent validation has been developed for such approaches (Leist et al. in ALTEX 27(4):309–317, 2010; ALTEX 29(4):373–88, 2012a; Toxicol Res 1:8–22, 2012b), while the quality and usefulness of animal experiments have been little scrutinized. A new study (Seok et al. 2013) now shows the low predictivity of animal responses in the field of inflammation. These findings corroborate earlier findings from …


Levels Of Citation Of Nonhuman Animal Studies Conducted At A Canadian Research Hospital, Anne Innis Dagg, Troy K. Seidle Jan 2004

Levels Of Citation Of Nonhuman Animal Studies Conducted At A Canadian Research Hospital, Anne Innis Dagg, Troy K. Seidle

Experimentation Collection

The publication of scientific articles that receive few or no citations raises questions of the appropriate use of resources as well as ethics. In the case of animal research, the ethics issue extends beyond human patients to nonhuman animals, as the research subjects them to pain and, typically, to death. This study is a citation analysis of animal research conducted at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children (HSC). Of the 594 publications (1990 to 1995) on animal research by affiliates of HSC, 29% received Iower than 10 citations in a 10-year period. We compare the research history of 13 "best" and …


The First Forty Years Of The Alternatives Approach: Refining, Reducing, And Replacing The Use Of Laboratory Animals, Martin L. Stephens, Alan M. Goldberg, Andrew N. Rowan Jan 2001

The First Forty Years Of The Alternatives Approach: Refining, Reducing, And Replacing The Use Of Laboratory Animals, Martin L. Stephens, Alan M. Goldberg, Andrew N. Rowan

State of the Animals 2001

The concept of the Three Rs— reduction, refinement, and replacement of animal use in biomedical experimentation—stems from a project launched in 1954 by a British organization, the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW). UFAW commissioned William Russell and Rex Burch to analyze the status of humane experimental techniques involving animals. In 1959 these scientists published a book that set out the principles of the Three Rs, which came to be known as alternative methods. Initially, Russell and Burch’s book was largely ignored, but their ideas were gradually picked up by the animal protection community in the 1960s and early ’70s. …


The Imbalance Between Experiment And Theory In Biology: The Need For Theory-Directed Modeling, M. L. Fidelman, D. C. Mikulecky Jan 1985

The Imbalance Between Experiment And Theory In Biology: The Need For Theory-Directed Modeling, M. L. Fidelman, D. C. Mikulecky

Experimentation Collection

In biological and biomedical research, the vast majority of resources are focused on conducting experiments. Most of these experiments utilize animals. Only a tiny amount of resources is spent on theory and modeling. It is our contention and the basic theme of this paper that the imbalance between theory and experiment in biology produces very poor science. The implications of which are that many of the experiments conducted have little real scientific meaning or value and, therefore, go hand-in-hand with unnecessary animal use and suffering. Given the finite resources available for research, the redirection of significant resources from an almost …