|
Essay by Albert Borroni |
In the spirit of Oberlin College it has been good to see students getting involved in what is happening on their campus. However, as occurs with all protests, the group trying to produce change is vocal and gets all the press (Oberlin Animal Rights - OAR) while those being attacked believe that the reasons for their actions are common knowledge and therefore remain silent. After having had discussions with students who are taking the neuroscience laboratory and students who propose to eliminate animal experimentation I've come to the conclusion that the rationale behind the use of animals in various laboratory sessions is in fact not common knowledge. There seems to be a lack of information and even misinformation circulating within our community.
This article serves to address the 'why' and 'what' of what is occurring in neuroscience laboratories. Hopefully this will allow the community at large to be better informed and thus better able to express an intelligent opinion on the subject. This letter is not intended to address the broader ideological issue of whether, in the pursuit of eliminating animal and human suffering and in exploring our own humanness, science has the right to use live non-human subjects for testing theories and training others in various invasive techniques. For those interested in this particular issue I would like to call your attention to next year's forum on the Ethics of Animal Use in Research.
Why use animals? As stated in the current Course Catalogue (1996-1997), "The Neuroscience major is designed to meet the needs of students interested in graduate study and professional work in fields such as neuroscience, pharmacology... as well as medicine and other biomedical fields." Whether one believes that using animals for teaching/research purposes is right or wrong, most of the research being done in the above mentioned fields does involve animals at some level. Thus, we would be remiss in our education of students in neuroscience if we did not, when appropriate and with proper preparation, introduce the techniques for animal experimentation. Statements made by current and former students support the claim that the laboratory sessions which use animals are an invaluable learning experience that cannot be replaced by computer simulations or in vitro techniques.
The experience with animals is useful to majors and non-majors because it helps them, in a way that discussion could not, to 1) decide if a biological science is in fact the field of study they wish to pursue, 2) understand how live subjects are employed in the furthering of our knowledge about ourselves and the world we live in, 3) acquire an understanding of the techniques used to address particular questions, and 4) be able to perform such techniques. Even if a student never uses a particular technique again, their having done so will make them better able to understand the arguments that are made based on experiments using a given technique.
What is happening in the laboratories where animals are used? We in the Neuroscience Program are certainly concerned about the manner in which animals are treated and the sacrifice of life that is inevitable in some animal experiments. Before using animals in experiments, the type of animal and the experimental protocol are both carefully evaluated. Specific considerations include: 1) Can the goals of the laboratory session be achieved without the use of animals? 2) Can an invertebrate species be used in place of a vertebrate one? 3) Is the proposed experiment the least intrusive means of addressing the given goals of the laboratory session? 4) Is the experiment free from pain and suffering?
These criteria are evaluated, before nay experiments are conducted, not only by the department but by a committee known as The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). This committee includes scientists and non-scientists we well as members from outside the college community. The committee's purpose is to assure that all experiments 1) address the stated goals of laboratory sessions, 2) use the minimum number of subjects, and 3) do not cause unnecessary pain and suffering. In fact, we take careful measures to assure that the animal experiences no pain.
In summary, we in the Neuroscience Program use live animals because one of the Neuroscience Program's expressed goals is to prepare students for a career in neuroscience and biomedical research. In order to best serve our students in this pursuit it is imperative that we give them hands-on experience with procedures used in these fields. At times this can only be done with the use of animals and surgical procedures. We always offer the option of not actively participating in a laboratory session that uses animals.
In closing, this letter is not designed to convince one that animal experimentation is right or wrong. It is simply a statement of what is occurring at Oberlin College and why. Undoubtedly some will have further questions about what we do and why we do it. The faculty in the Neuroscience Program, and hopefully the neuroscience students, will try to make themselves accessible to intelligently answer any questions.
Albert Borroni, OC '85, is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Neuroscience
Related Stories:
