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Asked by oscanljd to Daniel, Derek, Ian, Phil, Upul on 15 Jun 2010 in Categories: Your Research. This question was also asked by mollyh, seantaylor26, ailishlockerbie, cizzie, peyton, 08wintersk, 8erminerule, shayejgg, laurenxx, lewiscain, christian, sciencegirl1234, lipes.
Question: Do u harm animals in ur research? If so y do u change 2 not harming animals?
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Derek Mann answered on 13 Jun 2010:
My lab does use animals in our research but we make sure that they are not in pain and live a good life, being fed well and kept warm with plenty of space to move around, in may ways having a better life than many other animals.
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Daniel Mietchen answered on 15 Jun 2010:
My research is largely about non-invasive imaging methods — mainly Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) — so the animals (or plants) are typically still alive and kicking after an experiment. Examples to the contrary include insect larvae that did not survive freezing experiments, and fossils, which had been long dead before any scientists were around. In any case, the structure of the organism remains intact.
Currently, my focus is on analyzing brain scans that have been obtained non-invasively from patients, volunteers or animals by means of MRI, so I am one step further away from causing any harm.
I would like to mention, though, that much of what we know about how the human body functions in health and disease is based on observations in animals that have been harmed, and it is hard to imagine how to avoid that entirely. The tasks of the researchers then include ensuring that the animals suffer as little as possible and lead a pleasant life otherwise, as Derek pointed out above.
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