tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/animal-research-3551/articlesAnimal research – The Conversation2023-05-04T20:02:55Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2048082023-05-04T20:02:55Z2023-05-04T20:02:55ZResearch shows giraffes can use statistical reasoning. They’re the first animal with a relatively small brain known to do this<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524247/original/file-20230504-16-rgplib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C32%2C4281%2C2554&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bernard Dupont / Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humans make decisions using statistical information every day. Imagine you’re selecting a packet of jellybeans. If you prefer red jellybeans, you will probably try to find a packet that shows the most red (and less of the dreaded black ones) through the small window. </p>
<p>Since you can’t see all the jellybeans at once, you’re using statistical reasoning to make an informed decision. Even <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010027713002370?casa_token=WWHDxizwNeQAAAAA:jWpYK69qepFkyc85e4lgP1nHqc3L15XBHvsnJLnjmEtAXvDDDthFAI1DkI4AmhkpNa4DSlK-z2I">infants</a> have this capability. </p>
<p>And as it turns out, humans aren’t alone in using statistical inferences to make decisions. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010027718301872?casa_token=E9h9-0n57VYAAAAA:pE6DOC0tULN_XCy9b_D0b6YDunFuPz-g9ns0MUM4msKpbSNm1pE029khH3tRqVeb9zMBr3mx7sk">Great apes</a>, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-48543-0">long-tailed macaques</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14695.1">keas</a> have all been shown to use the relative frequencies of items to predict sampling events.</p>
<p>Now a new study has added giraffes to this list. The research, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-32615-3">published today</a> in Scientific Reports, shows giraffes can use statistical inferences to increase their likelihood of receiving carrot slices rather than zucchini – much like a human picking jellybeans.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524283/original/file-20230504-26-8gxj2c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524283/original/file-20230504-26-8gxj2c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524283/original/file-20230504-26-8gxj2c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524283/original/file-20230504-26-8gxj2c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524283/original/file-20230504-26-8gxj2c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524283/original/file-20230504-26-8gxj2c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524283/original/file-20230504-26-8gxj2c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524283/original/file-20230504-26-8gxj2c.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=716&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The researchers worked with four giraffes – Nakuru (M), Njano (M), Nuru (F) and Yalinga (F) – living at the Zoo of Barcelona.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alvaro L. Caicoya</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<h2>Brain size and statistical skills</h2>
<p>Until now, primates and birds were the only animals to show evidence of statistical reasoning. Both are considered to have large brains relative to body size, which is often linked with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982209015978">higher intelligence</a>. </p>
<p>Researchers at the University of Barcelona, University of Leipzig, and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology wanted to test whether an animal with a small brain relative to its body size could perform statistical reasoning. </p>
<p>Giraffes were an ideal choice. They have already demonstrated an ability to perform <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-020-01442-8">quantity discrimination</a> (being able to tell a larger amount of items from a smaller amount), and their <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/586708?casa_token=XkkvUHjJj7gAAAAA%3AqNm7kMFu9ThjXc6iixI2VP_CHIY7B-3ZT2nqyr0cuPWcafjwOObkWLK0Zc5oTST-2g7ewXEXKDbL">social systems</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/aje.12324">dietary breadth</a> have been linked with the emergence of complex cognition.</p>
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<h2>How does a giraffe demonstrate statistical reasoning?</h2>
<p>As it turns out, giraffes love carrots but have only a lukewarm appreciation for zucchinis, making these foods ideal to use in a statistical reasoning task.</p>
<p>Working with four giraffes, the researchers placed different proportions of carrot and zucchini slices into transparent containers to test if the giraffes could predict a higher likelihood of receiving a carrot in three tests of different treat quantities.</p>
<p>Each test consisted of 20 trials in which a researcher selected a piece of food from each container without showing the giraffe. The giraffe then touched the hand it wanted to eat from, using only the information it had from the containers.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SYJM-kLFgTM?wmode=transparent&start=2" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>The giraffes were reliably able to select the correct container in the trials of the first test, wherein the correct choice had both a higher quantity of carrots and lower quantity of zucchini slices.</p>
<p>In the second test, the quantity of carrots was the same in both containers, but the correct choice had fewer zucchini slices. Again, the giraffes were able to select correctly. </p>
<p>In the third test, the quantity of zucchini slices remained the same, but the correct container had a larger quantity of carrots. Yet again the giraffes chose correctly.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524300/original/file-20230504-20-bdx9bl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524300/original/file-20230504-20-bdx9bl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524300/original/file-20230504-20-bdx9bl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=165&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524300/original/file-20230504-20-bdx9bl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=165&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524300/original/file-20230504-20-bdx9bl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=165&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524300/original/file-20230504-20-bdx9bl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=207&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524300/original/file-20230504-20-bdx9bl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=207&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524300/original/file-20230504-20-bdx9bl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=207&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Each test of the experiment used different stimuli. Left to right: test 1, test 2 and test 3.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alvaro L. Caicoya et al/Scientific Reports</span></span>
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<p>The combined results informed the researchers whether giraffes were using relative frequencies (statistical reasoning) or simply comparing absolute quantities of their preferred or non-preferred food.</p>
<p>Since the giraffes succeeded in all three tests, the researchers concluded they had used statistical inferences. If the giraffes had only been looking at the absolute quantities of the carrots, they would have succeeded in the first and second tests only, and failed the third.</p>
<h2>Do you need a large brain for statistical reasoning?</h2>
<p>Evidence of statistical reasoning in giraffes suggests relatively large brains are not required to evolve complex statistical skills – at least in vertebrates (animals with backbones). Furthermore, the authors propose the ability to make statistical inferences may actually be widespread in the animal kingdom.</p>
<p>The question now is: how many other animals with small brains relative to their body size could also succeed in this task?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/one-then-some-how-to-count-like-a-bee-138815">One, then some: how to count like a bee</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204808/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Scarlett Howard received funding from Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship, RMIT University, Fyssen Foundation, L’Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science Young Talents French Award, and Deakin University. She is affiliated with Pint of Science Australia as the Media Manager volunteer.</span></em></p>Giraffes are the latest animals to show they can solve tasks using statistical reasoning – and the only one to do this with a small brain relative to body size.Scarlett Howard, Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1963872022-12-19T19:00:54Z2022-12-19T19:00:54ZCan we ethically justify harming animals for research?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501796/original/file-20221219-32459-pjqxml.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=61%2C35%2C5817%2C3887&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Neuralink, the biotechnology company co-founded by Elon Musk, has been accused of <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/12/11/23500157/neuralink-animal-testing-elon-musk-usda-probe">animal cruelty</a> and is under federal investigation in the United States for potential animal welfare violations. </p>
<p>The company has tested its brain-implant technology in animals including monkeys, sheep and pigs. Whistleblowers allege it has killed about 1,500 animals since 2018.</p>
<p>They claim testing was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/musks-neuralink-faces-federal-probe-employee-backlash-over-animal-tests-2022-12-05/">rushed</a>, which caused significant animal suffering and required botched experiments to be repeated – harming more animals than necessary.</p>
<p>This scandal highlights an old but important question: when is it acceptable to harm non-human animals for human ends?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/neuralinks-monkey-can-play-pong-with-its-mind-imagine-what-humans-could-do-with-the-same-technology-158787">Neuralink's monkey can play Pong with its mind. Imagine what humans could do with the same technology</a>
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<h2>Moral confusion</h2>
<p>The condemnation of Neuralink suggests many people view animal suffering as a serious moral problem. We find similar attitudes when people are outraged by pet owners neglecting or abusing their pets.</p>
<p>But our responses to animal suffering are complicated. Surveys show many people think at least <a href="https://anzccart.adelaide.edu.au/ua/media/664/attitudes-animal-research-survey-report2.pdf">some forms</a> of animal research are ethically acceptable, such as medical research where alternatives aren’t available. Most people also think it is <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/meet-the-meat-paradox/">not morally evil</a> to buy a hamburger, animal <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/11/slaughterhouse-rules/309113/">welfare concerns</a> aside.</p>
<p>Our attitudes towards animals are confusing – and arguably <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-meat-paradox-how-we-can-love-some-animals-and-eat-others-149">self-serving</a>. We need to think more carefully about how animals ought to be treated. </p>
<h2>Do animals matter?</h2>
<p>In the 17th century, philosopher René Descartes <a href="https://www.open.edu/openlearn/mod/oucontent/view.php?printable=1&id=1864">famously described</a> animals as mere “automata”. He believed they lack a soul and a mind, and are therefore incapable of suffering.</p>
<p>But progress in fields such as ethology and the cognitive sciences has improved our understanding of animal behaviour, and we have come to appreciate animals have rich mental lives. There is now <a href="https://fcmconference.org/img/CambridgeDeclarationOnConsciousness.pdf">scientific consensus</a> that mammals, birds and many others are capable of feeling pain and pleasure.</p>
<p>One might argue that, even if animals can suffer, ethics should only concern how we treat fellow humans since animals are not “one of us”. But this view is unsatisfying. </p>
<p>If somebody were to say it doesn’t matter how we treat people with a different skin colour, because they are not “one of us”, we would (rightly) call them racist. Those who claim the same about animals can be accused of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/animals/rights/speciesism.shtml">making a similar mistake</a>.</p>
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<span class="caption">For decades, macaques have been used to test brain-machine interfaces.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Our treatment of animals has come under increasing philosophical scrutiny since the time of Descartes. Some of the most powerful challenges have come from utilitarian philosophers such as <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/bentham/">Jeremy Bentham</a> (1748-1832) and Peter Singer, whose 1975 book <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/animal-liberation-9781473524422">Animal Liberation</a> was a rallying point for critics of livestock farming and animal research. </p>
<p>But the case for animal welfare isn’t just utilitarian. Thinkers from diverse philosophical traditions share this position. </p>
<h2>Philosophical views on animal welfare</h2>
<p>Philosophers usually think about animal suffering in accordance with one of three moral theories: utilitarianism, deontology and virtue ethics.</p>
<p><strong>Utilitarians</strong> believe we should do what best promotes the overall wellbeing of everybody affected by a choice. They <a href="https://www.utilitarianism.net/guest-essays/utilitarianism-and-nonhuman-animals">typically hold</a> that all suffering matters equally, regardless of who experiences it, or even what species they belong to. </p>
<p>In 1789, <a href="https://daily-philosophy.com/cooper-quotes-bentham-animal-suffering/">Bentham argued</a> that when it comes to animal welfare:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] the question is not, can they reason? Nor, can they talk? But can they suffer?</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>Deontologists</strong> emphasise duties and rights over welfare. They maintain we are not morally permitted to violate rights, even when doing so would promote overall wellbeing.</p>
<p>The great deontologist philosopher Immanuel Kant held that humans have rights because of our rationality (which more or less refers to our abilities to reason and make moral decisions). <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10539-019-9712-0">Kant believed</a> animals aren’t rational and therefore don’t have rights (although <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10539-019-9712-0">he claimed</a> we should still refrain from mistreating them since, according to him, that might make us more likely to mistreat humans).</p>
<p>Kant’s rejection of animal rights faces two challenges. First, some argue certain intelligent species, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/happy-the-elephant-was-denied-rights-designed-for-humans-but-the-legal-definition-of-person-is-still-evolving-152410">elephants and chimpanzees</a>, are also rational and hence deserve rights. </p>
<p>Second, many <a href="http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2014/12/christine-korsgaard-on-our-moral-obligations-to-animals-uehiro-lecture-2/">contemporary deontologists</a> argue we should set a less demanding threshold for moral rights. Rather than requiring rationality, they suggest it might be enough for an animal to have desires and interests.</p>
<p><strong>Virtue ethicists</strong> take yet another approach. They think morality is a matter of developing and practising good character traits, such as honesty and compassion, while avoiding traits like dishonesty and cowardice. Virtue ethicists who <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203870150-6/virtue-ethics-defence-animals-rosalind-hursthouse">deal with animal ethics</a> have argued animal experimentation displays and reinforces vices like callousness and cruelty, particularly when research is unlikely to achieve morally important goals.</p>
<h2>Neuralink revisited</h2>
<p>In Australia and the United States, animal research is governed largely by the “<a href="https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/publications/australian-code-care-and-use-animals-scientific-purposes">three Rs</a>”: directives to <em>replace</em> animal research with other strategies when feasible, <em>reduce</em> the number of animals used as much as possible, and <em>refine</em> experimental techniques to minimise animal pain.</p>
<p>If the reports about Neuralink are correct, the company failed to adhere to these. But what if Neuralink had conducted experiments in line with the three Rs – would this have resolved all ethical concerns? </p>
<p>Probably not. The three Rs are silent on one crucial question: whether the scientific gains from a particular study are great enough to justify the harms that research may inflict.</p>
<p>So long as an experiment is scientifically sound, one could, in principle, follow the three Rs to the letter while still inflicting severe suffering on a great many animals, and with little prospect of benefiting humans. If animals have moral worth, as the utilitarian, deontological and virtue ethical views state, then at least some scientifically sound animal research should not be conducted.</p>
<p>Neuralink has admirable goals, which include curing paralysis, blindness and depression. </p>
<p>But utilitarians might question whether the expected benefits are great enough (or <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/08/30/1007786/elon-musks-neuralink-demo-update-neuroscience-theater/">likely enough</a>) to outweigh the significant harms to animals. Deontologists might question whether any of the species used have moral rights against being experimented on, particularly intelligent ones such as monkeys and pigs. And virtue ethicists might worry the testing performed involves vices such as callousness.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Credit: Neuralink.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Where are we headed?</h2>
<p>Animal research is widely practised in Australia, with more than <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/millions-of-animals-around-australia-subjected-to-experiments-and-surgery-20160129-gmgown.html">6 million animals</a> reportedly used per year. Some (but not all) of this research involves significant pain and suffering. Mice are the most common animal used, though species such as dogs, cats and non-human primates are also used. </p>
<p>The vast number of lives at stake mean it is imperative to get the ethics right. </p>
<p>This means developing a more comprehensive set of principles for animal research than the three Rs: one that will help us more effectively balance scientific benefit against harms to research animals. At least among philosophers, this work is <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-89300-6">already</a> <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ilarjournal/article/60/3/308/5584414?l">under way</a>.</p>
<p>It might also involve revisiting the question of when (if ever) certain species should be used in research. Australia imposes <a href="https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/resources/use-non-human-primates-scientific-purposes">special restrictions</a> on the use of non-human primates. Other jurisdictions have banned or considered banning <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nm1010-1057a">ape research</a>. What other intelligent species ought to receive additional protections?</p>
<p>We need to look beyond the three Rs for a full assessment of the ethics of animal research – both for Neuralink and beyond.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-ethical-animal-research-a-scientist-and-veterinarian-explain-190876">What is ethical animal research? A scientist and veterinarian explain</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196387/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julian Koplin receives funding from Ferring Pharmaceuticals. </span></em></p>Although there are rules that govern animal research, they don’t answer one important question: when are the gains from research enough to justify the harms it may inflict?Julian Koplin, Lecturer in Bioethics, Monash University & Honorary fellow, Melbourne Law School, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1908762022-11-23T13:19:17Z2022-11-23T13:19:17ZWhat is ethical animal research? A scientist and veterinarian explain<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493593/original/file-20221104-24-tgu2zn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C17%2C1972%2C1478&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Animal research's benefits are clear -- but public awareness of what it involves is not.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/woman-wearing-boiler-suit-and-mask-standing-in-room-royalty-free-image/200399533-001?phrase=%22woman%20wearing%20boiler%20suit%22&adppopup=true">Javier Pierini/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/switzerland-vote-becoming-first-nation-ban-animal-testing-2022-02-13/">proposed measure</a> in Switzerland would have made that country the first to ban medical and scientific experimentation on animals. It failed to pass in February 2022, with only 21% of voters in favor. Yet globally, <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/8699?s=1&r=8">including in the United States</a>, there is concern about whether animal research is ethical.</p>
<p>We are scientists who support ethical animal research that reduces suffering of humans and animals alike by helping researchers <a href="https://fbresearch.org/medical-advances/animal-research-achievements/">discover the causes of disease and how to treat it</a>. One of us is a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JxIoO1sAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">neuroscientist</a> who studies <a href="https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/treatments/prolonged-exposure">behavioral treatments</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-022-01952-8">medications</a> for people with post-traumatic stress disorder – treatments made possible by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.nlm.2013.11.014">research with dogs and rodents</a>. The other is a <a href="https://www.enprc.emory.edu/research/divisions/animal_resources/Stammen_Rachelle_L.html">veterinarian</a> who cares for laboratory animals in research studies and trains researchers on how to interact with their subjects. </p>
<p>We both place high importance on ensuring that animal research is conducted ethically and humanely. But what counts as “ethical” animal research in the first place?</p>
<h2>The 4 R’s of animal research</h2>
<p>There is no single standard definition of ethical animal research. However, it broadly means the humane care of research animals – from their acquisition and housing to the study experience itself.</p>
<p>Federal research agencies follow <a href="https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/gov-principles.htm">guiding principles</a> in evaluating the use and care of animals in research. One is that the research must increase knowledge and, either directly or indirectly, have the potential to benefit the health and welfare of humans and other animals. Another is that only the minimum number of animals required to obtain valid results should be included. Researchers must use procedures that minimize pain and distress and maximize the animals’ welfare. They are also asked to consider whether they could use nonanimal alternatives instead, such as mathematical models or computer simulations.</p>
<p>These principles are summarized by the “<a href="https://flexiblelearning.auckland.ac.nz/medsci303/15/1/1/files/overview_of_3rs.pdf">3 R’s” of animal research</a>: reduction, refinement and replacement. The 3 R’s encourage scientists to develop new techniques that allow them to replace animals with appropriate alternatives. </p>
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<img alt="Two men bend over a microscope in an office with big glass walls overlooking water." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493596/original/file-20221104-11-6zdg0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493596/original/file-20221104-11-6zdg0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493596/original/file-20221104-11-6zdg0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493596/original/file-20221104-11-6zdg0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493596/original/file-20221104-11-6zdg0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493596/original/file-20221104-11-6zdg0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493596/original/file-20221104-11-6zdg0h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">L'Oreal Brazil CEO Marcelo Zimet looks at microscope samples at the Episkin laboratory, which has developed alternative methods to animal testing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/loreal-brazil-ceo-marcelo-zimet-looks-on-a-microscope-news-photo/1240792707?phrase=%22animal%20testing%22%20brazil&adppopup=true">Mauro Pimentel/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Since these guidelines were first disseminated in the <a href="https://caat.jhsph.edu/principles/the-principles-of-humane-experimental-technique">early 1960s</a>, new tools have helped to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0101638">significantly decrease</a> animal research. In fact, since 1985, the number of animals in research has been <a href="https://speakingofresearch.com/facts/statistics/">reduced by half</a>.</p>
<p>A fourth “R” was formalized in the late 1990s: <a href="https://doi.org/10.4103%2F2229-5070.113884">rehabilitation</a>, referring to care for animals after their role in research is complete.</p>
<p>These guidelines are designed to ensure that researchers and regulators consider the costs and benefits of using animals in research, focused on the good it could provide for many more animals and humans. These guidelines also ensure protection of a group – animals – that cannot consent to its own participation in research. There are a number of human groups that cannot consent to research, either, such as infants and young children, but for whom regulated research is still permitted, so that they can <a href="https://philarchive.org/archive/MARART-26">gain the potential benefits from discoveries</a>. </p>
<h2>Enforcing ethics</h2>
<p>Specific <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/research/resources/offices-policies/animal-care/">guidelines</a> for ethical animal research are typically established by <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK24650/">national governments</a>. <a href="https://www.aaalac.org">Independent organizations</a> also provide research standards.</p>
<p>In the U.S., the <a href="http://www.nal.usda.gov/animal-health-and-welfare/animal-welfare-act">Animal Welfare Act</a> protects all warmblooded animals except rats, mice and birds bred for research. Rats, mice and birds are protected – along with fish, reptiles and all other vertebrates – by the <a href="https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/phs-policy.htm">Public Health Service Policy</a>. </p>
<p>Each institution that conducts animal research has an entity called the <a href="https://olaw.nih.gov/resources/tutorial/iacuc.htm">Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee</a>, or IACUC. The IACUC is composed of veterinarians, scientists, nonscientists and members of the public. Before researchers are allowed to start their studies, the IACUC reviews their research protocols to ensure they follow national standards. The IACUC also oversees studies after approval to continually enforce ethical research practices and animal care. It, along with the <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalwelfare/SA_AWA/CT_AWA_Inspections">U.S. Department of Agriculture</a>, accreditation agencies and funding entities, may conduct unannounced inspections.</p>
<p>Laboratories that violate standards may be fined, forced to stop their studies, excluded from research funding, ordered to cease and desist, and have their licenses suspended or revoked. Allegations of misconduct are also investigated by the <a href="https://olaw.nih.gov/home.htm">National Institutes of Health’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare</a>.</p>
<p>Above and beyond the basic national standards for humane treatment, research institutions across 47 countries, including the U.S., may seek voluntary accreditation by a nonprofit called the <a href="https://ar.aaalac.org/about/index.cfm">Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care</a>, or AAALAC International. <a href="https://www.unthsc.edu/research/wp-content/uploads/sites/21/Benefits-of-AAALAC-Accreditation.pdf">AAALAC accreditation</a> recognizes the maintenance of high standards of animal care and use. It can also help recruit scientists to accredited institutes, promote scientific validity and demonstrate accountability.</p>
<h2>Principles in practice</h2>
<p>So what impact do these guidelines actually have on research and animals?</p>
<p>First, they have made sure that scientists create protocols that describe the purpose of their research and why animals are necessary to answer a meaningful question that could benefit health or medical care. While computer models and cell cultures can play an important role in some research, others studies, like those on <a href="https://theconversation.com/expanding-alzheimers-research-with-primates-could-overcome-the-problem-with-treatments-that-show-promise-in-mice-but-dont-help-humans-188207">Alzheimer’s disease</a>, need animal models to better capture the complexities of living organisms. The protocol must outline how animals will be housed and cared for, and who will care for and work with the animals, to ensure that they are trained to treat animals humanely. </p>
<p>During continual study oversight, inspectors look for whether animals are provided with housing specifically designed for their species’ behavioral and social needs. For example, mice are given nesting materials to create a <a href="https://med.stanford.edu/animalresearch/animal-care-and-facilities/animal-well-being-at-stanford.html">comfortable environment for living and raising pups</a>. When animals don’t have environmental stimulation, it can alter their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0166-2236(00)01718-5">brain function</a> – harming not only the animal, but also the science.</p>
<p>Monitoring agencies also consider animals’ distress. If something is known to be painful in humans, it is assumed to be painful in animals as well. Sedation, painkillers or anesthesia must be provided when animals experience more than momentary or slight pain.</p>
<p>For some research that requires assessing organs and tissues, such as the study of heart disease, animals must be euthanized. Veterinary professionals perform or oversee the euthanasia process. Methods must be in compliance with guidelines from the <a href="https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/avma-policies/avma-guidelines-euthanasia-animals">American Veterinary Medical Association</a>, which requires rapid and painless techniques in distress-free conditions. </p>
<p>Fortunately, following their time in research, some animals can be <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/research/resources/offices-policies/animal-care/">adopted</a> into <a href="https://homesforanimalheroes.com/">loving homes</a>, and others may be retired to <a href="https://chimphaven.org">havens and sanctuaries</a> equipped with veterinary care, nutrition and enrichment.</p>
<h2>Continuing the conversation</h2>
<p>Animal research benefits both humans and animals. Numerous medical advances exist because they were initially studied in animals – from treatments for <a href="https://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/application/files/7016/4380/3819/medical-advances-and.pdf">cancer</a> and <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1985.tb37592.x">neurodegenerative disease</a> to new techniques for surgery, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK218274/">organ transplants</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ilar.49.1.1">noninvasive imaging and diagnostics</a>. </p>
<p>These advances also benefit zoo animals, wildlife and endangered species. Animal research has allowed for the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3201%2Feid1612.100923">eradication of certain diseases in cattle</a>, for example, leading not only to reduced farm cattle deaths and human famine, but also to improved health for wild cattle. <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/10089/chapter/7">Health care advances for pets</a> – including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-16-0637">cancer treatments</a>, effective vaccines, nutritional prescription diets and flea and tick treatments – are also available thanks to animal research.</p>
<p>People who work with animals in research have attempted to <a href="https://www.bradglobal.org/">increase public awareness</a> of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-022-01039-z">research standards and the positive effects</a> animal research has had on daily life. However, some have faced harassment and violence from <a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090915174319.htm">anti-animal research activists</a>. Some of our own colleagues have received death threats.</p>
<p>Those who work in animal research share a deep appreciation for the creatures who make this work possible. For future strides in biomedical care to be possible, we believe that research using animals must be protected, and that animal health and safety must always remain the top priority.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: One photo depicting a species that is highly restricted for use in biomedical research has been removed from the article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190876/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lana Ruvolo Grasser, Ph.D. is the 2022-2023 American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, Americans for Medical Progress Biomedical Research Awareness Day Fellow. She has previously received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Michigan, and Wayne State University; none of which has supported the work described herein. She is a member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, International Society for Developmental Psychobiology, and Michigan Society for Neuroscience. Dr. Grasser contributed to this article in her personal capacity. The views expressed are her own and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institutes of Health or the United States Government. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachelle Stammen works as a Clinical Veterinarian at the Emory National Primate Research Center. She is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, American Association of Laboratory Animal Science, Association of Primate Veterinarians, and a Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine. This work is not affiliated with or reflect the opinions of Emory University or Emory National Primate Research Center. </span></em></p>Guidelines and regulations weigh the medical and health benefits of animal research with researchers’ ability to ensure humane care of their subjects from start to finish.Lana Ruvolo Grasser, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Neuroscience, National Institutes of HealthRachelle Stammen, Clinical Veterinarian, Emory National Primate Research Center, Emory UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1886832022-08-28T12:33:39Z2022-08-28T12:33:39ZTalking things out: How institutional transparency could improve animal research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481161/original/file-20220825-22-iwk5fr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C2670&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research using animals must be more transparent regarding how animals are used and treated.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around <a href="https://ccac.ca/en/facts-and-legislation/animal-data/annual-animal-data-reports.html">five million animals are used annually</a> for scientific or educational purposes in Canada. The use of animals in general, especially for research, can be a divisive issue. </p>
<p>Recently, there have been high-profile instances of <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/about-4-000-beagles-destined-for-drug-experiments-finding-new-homes-1.6027105">public outcry</a> and groups <a href="https://sentientmedia.org/how-animal-testing-is-holding-back-medical-progress/">questioning the benefits</a> and <a href="https://www.animalalliance.ca/canadian-council-on-animal-care/">oversight of animal research</a>. This could lead to total or partial abolition of animal research and its life-saving applications. While <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41576-022-00466-9">non-animal alternatives</a> continue to replace live animals, animal research will still be necessary to achieve scientific and medical advances. </p>
<h2>The animals’ experience</h2>
<p>Negative public perception of animal research can be partly explained by animal-rights groups who forward the message — <a href="https://speakingofresearch.com/2017/09/07/say-no-to-the-harassment-of-christine-lattin-by-peta-activists/">sometimes quite aggressively</a> — that all animal use should be stopped. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481170/original/file-20220825-723-c898zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a dog stands in front of a protest sign reading WE DON'T WANT ANIMAL TESTED COSMETICS IN CANADA" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481170/original/file-20220825-723-c898zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481170/original/file-20220825-723-c898zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481170/original/file-20220825-723-c898zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481170/original/file-20220825-723-c898zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481170/original/file-20220825-723-c898zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481170/original/file-20220825-723-c898zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481170/original/file-20220825-723-c898zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Luna the dog stands in front of signs as animal lovers and their pets deliver petitions demanding a ban on animal tested cosmetic products on Parliament Hill.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>While these groups often have valid concerns regarding the lack of information about lived experiences of these animals, it does not change how animal research has played an essential role in improving the health of humans and animals alike.</p>
<p>Animal rights activists are vocal about the experiences of research animals, while institutions where animal research is conducted are often secretive about how animals are cared for and what research they participate in. This creates a one-sided narrative that resonates with the public, as most people do not condone animal suffering. </p>
<p>Unfamiliarity with animal research, combined with this narrative, can cause moral conflict. My research examines the role of institutional transparency in the public’s understanding of, and assumed permission, for the use of animals in scientific research.</p>
<h2>Freedom to engage</h2>
<p>For activities to be conducted in society, especially contentious ones like animal research, a type of permission by the general public is needed. This is referred to as “<a href="https://ethics.org.au/ethics-explainer-social-license-to-operate/">social licence</a>.” A social licence provides freedom for a profession to perform its tasks with society’s acknowledgement that it does not understand the profession well enough to regulate it directly, but at the same time, places trust in the sector to self-regulate in ways that follow societal values. </p>
<p>In most developed countries, research at universities is publicly funded and the knowledge it provides is for public benefit. As such, institutions should engage with the public continually to ensure current research practices reflect the evolving values of the community they represent. Without it, certain activities become taboo and can be outright banned.</p>
<p>Scientists cannot just conduct any research they want using animals. In Canada, a protocol describing the intended use of animals, as well as the potential benefits of the experiments, needs to be approved by an <a href="https://ccac.ca/Documents/Assessment/The_Animal_Care_Committee_and_the_Role_of_Its_Members.pdf">animal care committee</a> at each institution. This is mandated by the <a href="http://ccac.ca">Canadian Council on Animal Care</a>, and must be approved for institutions to <a href="https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/063.nsf/eng/h_56B87BE5.html">receive public funding to conduct animal research</a>. </p>
<p>An animal care committee must involve, at minimum, a veterinarian, a scientist conducting research with animals, and at least one member of the public not affiliated with the institution. The committees often include additional perspectives as well. While this process is not without its flaws, it tries to address the concerns about the experiments that are raised by the committee members.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the public is not usually aware of this process, so the discussions and decisions made by these committees, even though they involve a member of the public, are not enough to maintain social licence. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481171/original/file-20220825-18-c898zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a person in a white lab coat injects a yellow liquid into a rat" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481171/original/file-20220825-18-c898zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481171/original/file-20220825-18-c898zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481171/original/file-20220825-18-c898zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481171/original/file-20220825-18-c898zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481171/original/file-20220825-18-c898zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481171/original/file-20220825-18-c898zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481171/original/file-20220825-18-c898zz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">In Canada, animal research requires the approval of an animal care committee.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>Defining transparency</h2>
<p>To maintain social licence, meaningful dialogue involving people of diverse backgrounds and opinions is required. For this to happen, any interested member of the public must have access to basic information about animal research. </p>
<p>This is currently challenging, as broad public input is not generally sought during the process of deciding how animals will be used for research. Institutions can encourage meaningful public dialogue by being transparent about their experiments and policies involving animals. </p>
<p>However, transparency must first be defined and agreed to by all stakeholders at an institution. My studies with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254279">research animal facility managers</a> and <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/2429/82324">attending veterinarians</a> showed interpretations of institutional transparency varied within and between Canadian universities. </p>
<p>Some would have liked their institution to view transparency as communicating information for the sake of openness, while others described transparency as a means to educate or manipulate public opinion in support of animal research. Some viewed transparency negatively because they fear it could foster opposition to animal research. Sustained communication will be necessary to build a consensus on how to pursue transparency in a sincere and respectful manner.</p>
<p>In addition to internal discussions within an institution, external factors could greatly help achieve transparency. These could include specific requirements from national <a href="https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/063.nsf/eng/h_A0A2F2CB.html">granting agencies</a> or some form of transparency agreement by individual institutions, as is <a href="https://concordatopenness.org.uk/">currently present in the United Kingdom</a> and throughout <a href="https://www.eara.eu/transparency-agreements">Europe</a>.</p>
<p>This is important, as the lack of an institutional motivation to change transparency practices in Canada was an obstacle raised by attending veterinarians in their interviews.</p>
<h2>Public involvement</h2>
<p>Some members of the scientific community may doubt if the general public possesses the knowledge to provide useful input concerning the use of animals for scientific experimentation. </p>
<p>My research requesting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260114">public input on proposed animal experiments</a> found participants provided practical and nuanced input that could aid in institutional decision making. </p>
<p>This type of public input would offer institutions a better understanding of societal concerns, such as the severity of animal suffering, and reduce the risk that research practices are out of step with community values.</p>
<p>There is no single solution to this complex and value-laden issue. </p>
<p>Some scholars have recommended a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11020368">new openness</a>” approach that provides diverse opportunities for the public to participate when, and how, they deem appropriate. </p>
<p>Additionally, I suggest releasing information about animal research should be framed as the start of a journey that will involve discussion, collaboration and negotiation. This can lead to improved decisions for animals used in research by further aligning the research community and broader society.</p>
<p><em>Frederic Chatigny, clinical veterinarian, co-authored this article</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188683/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Brunt receives funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. He is affiliated with the Canadian Association for Laboratory Animal Science and the Canadian Council on Animal Care. </span></em></p>The public’s lack of knowledge about animal research can cause a moral conflict. Institutions that use animals in research need to be more transparent about their practices.Michael W. Brunt, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Ontario Veterinary College, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1563432021-04-12T19:18:47Z2021-04-12T19:18:47ZWe’re creating ‘humanized pigs’ in our ultraclean lab to study human illnesses and treatments<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391780/original/file-20210325-17-nc2rjy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C6%2C3482%2C1792&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pigs with human immune systems.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ahlea Forster</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2002/05/31/02-13583/new-drug-and-biological-drug-products-evidence-needed-to-demonstrate-effectiveness-of-new-drugs-when">requires all new medicines to be tested in animals</a> before use in people. Pigs make better medical research subjects than mice, because they are closer to humans in size, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tim.2011.11.002">physiology</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2164-14-332">genetic makeup</a>. </p>
<p>In recent years, <a href="https://faculty.sites.iastate.edu/cktuggle/">our team at Iowa State University</a> has found a way to make pigs an even closer stand-in for humans. We have successfully transferred components of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.00100">human immune system into pigs that lack a functional immune system</a>. This breakthrough has the potential to accelerate medical research in many areas, including <a href="https://doi.org/10.1159/000451007">virus</a> and vaccine research, as well as <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2019.00009">cancer</a> and <a href="https://orip.nih.gov/about-orip/research-highlights/severe-combined-immunodeficient-pigs-promising-model-human-stem-cell">stem cell therapeutics</a>. </p>
<h2>Existing biomedical models</h2>
<p>Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, or SCID, is a genetic condition that causes impaired development of the immune system. People can develop SCID, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/bubble-boy-40-years-later-look-back-at-heartbreaking-case/15/">as dramatized in the 1976 movie</a> “<a href="https://wikimili.com/en/The_Boy_in_the_Plastic_Bubble">The Boy in the Plastic Bubble</a>.” Other animals can develop SCID, too, including mice.</p>
<p>Researchers in the 1980s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.2971269">recognized that SCID mice</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/335256a0">could be implanted with human immune cells</a> for further study. Such mice are called “humanized” mice and have been optimized over the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/cmi.2012.2">past 30 years</a> to study many questions relevant to human health. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391791/original/file-20210325-17-1vwceuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A rack of clear enclosures containing mice in a laboratory setting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391791/original/file-20210325-17-1vwceuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391791/original/file-20210325-17-1vwceuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391791/original/file-20210325-17-1vwceuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391791/original/file-20210325-17-1vwceuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391791/original/file-20210325-17-1vwceuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391791/original/file-20210325-17-1vwceuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/391791/original/file-20210325-17-1vwceuc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mice are valuable models, but they have limitations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/experimenal-mice-are-raised-in-the-ivc-cages-royalty-free-image/639071964">unoL/iStock via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Mice are the most <a href="https://doi.org/10.4103/0975-7406.124301">commonly used animal in biomedical research</a>, but results from <a href="https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2020/why-drugs-tested-in-mice-fail-in-human-clinical-trials/">mice often do not translate well to human responses</a>, thanks to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejps.2013.08.018">differences in metabolism</a>, size and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1506-7">divergent cell functions</a> compared with people. </p>
<p>Nonhuman primates are also used for medical research and are certainly closer stand-ins for humans. But using them for this purpose raises <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/25889567-BJA10002">numerous ethical considerations</a>. With these concerns in mind, the National Institutes of Health <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/nih-to-retire-all-research-chimpanzees-1.18817">retired most of its chimpanzees from biomedical research</a> in 2013. </p>
<p>Alternative animal models are in demand.</p>
<p>Swine are a viable option for medical research because of their similarities to humans. And with their widespread commercial use, pigs are met with fewer ethical dilemmas than primates. Upwards of <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Livestock_Slaughter/hgheadx3.php">100 million hogs</a> are slaughtered each year for food in the U.S.</p>
<h2>Humanizing pigs</h2>
<p>In 2012, groups at Iowa State University and Kansas State University, including Jack Dekkers, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=eEspUMQAAAAJ">an expert in animal breeding and genetics</a>, and Raymond Rowland, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=%22Raymond+Rowland%22">a specialist in animal diseases</a>, <a href="https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/iowa-state-university-seeks-develop-pig-benefit-human-medical-therapies">serendipitously discovered</a> a naturally occurring genetic mutation in pigs that caused SCID. We wondered if we could develop these pigs to create a new biomedical model. </p>
<p>Our group has worked for nearly a decade developing and optimizing SCID pigs for applications in biomedical research. In 2018, we achieved a <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.00100">twofold milestone</a> when working with animal physiologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=iAJav9YAAAAJ&hl=en">Jason Ross</a> and his lab. Together we developed a <a href="https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2020/05/28/scidpigs2020grant">more immunocompromised pig than the original SCID pig – and successfully humanized it</a>, by transferring cultured human immune stem cells into the livers of developing piglets. </p>
<p>During early fetal development, immune cells develop within the liver, providing an opportunity to introduce human cells. We inject human immune stem cells into fetal pig livers <a href="https://doi.org/10.30802/AALAS-CM-18-000098">using ultrasound imaging as a guide</a>. As the pig fetus develops, the injected human immune stem cells begin to differentiate – or change into other kinds of cells – and spread through the pig’s body. Once SCID piglets are born, we can detect human immune cells in their blood, liver, spleen and thymus gland. This humanization is what makes them so valuable for testing new medical treatments.</p>
<p>We have found that human ovarian tumors <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2019.00009">survive and grow in SCID pigs</a>, giving us an opportunity to study ovarian cancer in a new way. Similarly, because <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/wrr.12715">human skin survives on SCID pigs</a>, scientists may be able to develop new treatments for skin burns. Other research possibilities are numerous.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388146/original/file-20210306-13-14k76rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An indoor space housing pigs, with specialize air vents and plastic sheeting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388146/original/file-20210306-13-14k76rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388146/original/file-20210306-13-14k76rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=173&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388146/original/file-20210306-13-14k76rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=173&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388146/original/file-20210306-13-14k76rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=173&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388146/original/file-20210306-13-14k76rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=217&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388146/original/file-20210306-13-14k76rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=217&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388146/original/file-20210306-13-14k76rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=217&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The ultraclean SCID pig biocontainment facility in Ames, Iowa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adeline Boettcher</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Pigs in a bubble</h2>
<p>Since our pigs lack essential components of their immune system, they are extremely susceptible to infection and require special housing to help reduce exposure to pathogens. </p>
<p>SCID pigs are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0023677217750691">raised in bubble biocontainment facilities</a>. Positive pressure rooms, which maintain a higher air pressure than the surrounding environment to keep pathogens out, are coupled with highly filtered air and water. All personnel are required to wear full personal protective equipment. We typically have anywhere from two to 15 SCID pigs and breeding animals at a given time. (Our breeding animals do not have SCID, but they are genetic carriers of the mutation, so their offspring may have SCID.) </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>As with any animal research, ethical considerations are always front and center. All our protocols are approved by Iowa State University’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and are in accordance with <a href="https://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/guide-for-the-care-and-use-of-laboratory-animals.pdf">The National Institutes of Health’s Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals</a>. </p>
<p>Every day, twice a day, our pigs are checked by expert caretakers who monitor their health status and provide engagement. We have veterinarians on call. If any pigs fall ill, and drug or antibiotic intervention does not improve their condition, the animals are humanely euthanized. </p>
<p>Our goal is to continue optimizing our humanized SCID pigs so they can be more readily available for stem cell therapy testing, as well as research in other areas, including cancer. We hope the development of the SCID pig model will pave the way for advancements in therapeutic testing, with the long-term goal of improving human patient outcomes.</p>
<p><em>Adeline Boettcher earned her research-based Ph.D. working on the SCID project in 2019.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156343/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Tuggle receives funding from the US National Institutes of Health to develop the SCID pig model. The Artemis SCID pig model has been patented by Iowa State University (#9,745,561) and can be licensed for use.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adeline Boettcher does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Medical research to benefit people is first conducted in animals. Creating a new biomedical model by inserting human immune cells into pigs may lead to new insights and treatments.Christopher Tuggle, Professor of Animal Science, Iowa State UniversityAdeline Boettcher, Technical Writer II, Iowa State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1578892021-04-01T19:03:58Z2021-04-01T19:03:58ZMeet the Egyptian spiny mouse: this menstruating rodent may help us understand human pregnancy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393027/original/file-20210401-15-1bvvqo5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=94%2C4%2C2901%2C1989&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>About 8–12% of couples of reproductive age suffer from <a href="https://academic.oup.com/hropen/article/2020/3/hoaa033/5870572">infertility</a>, and roughly 15% of all pregnancies end in <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bdra.23014">miscarriage</a>. </p>
<p>The underlying mechanisms of human pregnancy are still poorly understood. In part, this is because pregnancy works quite differently in most mammals. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/miscarriages-affect-1-in-6-pregnancies-we-need-better-investigations-and-treatments-120672">Miscarriages affect 1 in 6 pregnancies. We need better investigations and treatments</a>
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<p>However, recent research indicates the Egyptian spiny mouse, which menstruates like humans do, could offer an excellent model for research. Our <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-84361-z">new study</a>, published in Scientific Reports, shows the lining of the mouse’s uterus, or endometrium, also grows in a human-like way to prepare for embryo implantation. </p>
<h2>Why animal models are important</h2>
<p>There are many reasons for miscarriage and other pregnancy complications, ranging from hormonal and vitamin imbalances to failure of placental development and impaired embryo implantation. To understand these conditions, researchers need to do experiments – but doing experiments on humans poses serious ethical, practical and financial challenges.</p>
<p>That’s why researchers try to “model” the conditions in suitable laboratory animals. Animal models (using rodents in particular) have helped explain many aspects of human reproduction, but they are limited by fundamental differences between human reproduction and that of other species. </p>
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<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-mightnt-like-it-but-there-are-ethical-reasons-to-use-animals-in-medical-research-58878">We mightn't like it, but there are ethical reasons to use animals in medical research</a>
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<p>Less than 2% of all mammal species menstruate, with most instead having an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estrous_cycle">oestrus cycle</a> (“going on heat”). Aside from humans, most menstruating species are great apes or old-world monkeys. </p>
<p>Non-human primates like these would be the most biologically appropriate animals for modelling human reproduction. But their large size, complex welfare requirements and high costs have prevented their adoption as laboratory animals.</p>
<p>So, to study and manage human pregnancy more effectively, we need a more appropriate menstruating animal model of female reproduction. </p>
<h2>The menstruating spiny mouse</h2>
<p>The Egyptian spiny mouse (<em>Acomys cahirinus</em>) was recently shown to have human-like <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002937816304768">menstruation</a>. This had never been seen before in any rodent, and the discovery gives researchers an unprecedented non-primate model for studying menstrual and gynaecological disorders. </p>
<p>Researchers from Monash University have since delved deeper into the mystery of spiny mouse reproductive biology. The researchers have provided an in-depth characterisation of the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/33/9/1715/5055926?login=true">menstrual cycle</a>, identified PMS-like <a href="https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/34/2/308/5248532?login=true">behaviour</a> and, most recently, early embryo implantation and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-84361-z">pregnancy</a>.</p>
<h2>Endometrial growth</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-84361-z">our study</a> published in Scientific Reports, we discovered that the lining of the spiny mouse’s uterus displays similar patterns of growth and receptivity to embryo implantation as other menstruating species.</p>
<p>Before an embryo can implant, the uterus lining must more than double in size and begin secreting the required proteins to encourage an embryo to implant correctly. This study demonstrated simultaneous increases in thickness and receptivity of the spiny mouse endometrium before embryo implantation, closely reflecting the events in other menstruating species.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392716/original/file-20210331-13-11wue4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392716/original/file-20210331-13-11wue4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392716/original/file-20210331-13-11wue4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392716/original/file-20210331-13-11wue4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392716/original/file-20210331-13-11wue4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392716/original/file-20210331-13-11wue4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392716/original/file-20210331-13-11wue4n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A fluorescent image of the spiny mouse uterus just before embryo implantation. The green chunk at the bottom left is the muscle of the uterus, and the thinner green structures are the uterine arteries. Blue shapes are cell nuclei, and the red dots within the arteries are blood cells, and red outside the arteries is either blood cells or protein.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jarrod McKenna</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Spiral arteries</h2>
<p>In all menstruating species, spiral-shaped arteries grow in the uterine lining. </p>
<p>These spring-like arteries are vital to provide nutrients for a growing placenta, and poorly functioning spiral arteries are associated with several pregnancy complications such as pre-eclampsia and intra-uterine growth restriction. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-pre-eclampsia-and-how-does-it-affect-mums-and-babies-97781">Explainer: what is pre-eclampsia, and how does it affect mums and babies?</a>
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<p>In our study, we observed the growth of spiral arteries prior to embryo implantation, but also changes to their structure and function soon after. This also occurs during early pregnancy in other menstruating species including <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21705078/">gorillas</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21459441/">chimpanzees</a> and <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/JPM.2006.089/html">humans</a>. </p>
<h2>Looking to the future</h2>
<p>Although our knowledge of spiny mouse reproductive biology is in its infancy, what we do know is very encouraging. </p>
<p>This study is further proof for the unique reproduction of the spiny mouse and adds to the growing list of reproductive traits we share with this fascinating species. Not only do spiny mice have human-like menstruation, but this recent study demonstrates similarities of endometrial growth, receptivity and the critical role of spiral arteries during early pregnancy of menstrual species. </p>
<p>Further research into spiny mouse reproductive biology may reveal new treatment options for pregnancy complications. In turn, this could change how we treat and monitor pregnancy and lead to better outcomes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157889/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jarrod McKenna is funded by the Australian Government Research Training Program supported by Monash University. </span></em></p>Discovering a mouse with a reproductive system surprisingly similar to our own is good news for pregnancy research.Jarrod McKenna, PhD candidate and academic tutor, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1536442021-01-30T21:59:44Z2021-01-30T21:59:44ZApes, robots and men: the life and death of the first space chimp<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381239/original/file-20210129-13-2fzjdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C3000%2C2276&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chimpanzee_Ham_in_Biopack_Couch_for_MR-2_flight_MSFC-6100114.jpg">NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On January 31, 1961, an intrepid chimpanzee called Ham was launched on a rocket from Cape Canaveral in the United States, and returned to Earth alive. In this process, he became the first hominin in space.</p>
<p>In the 1950s, it was unclear whether humans could survive outside Earth – both physically and mentally. The science fiction writer and warfare expert <a href="https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2018/fall/cordwainer-smith-paul-linebarger/">Cordwainer Smith</a> wrote about the psychological pain of being in space.</p>
<p>Plants, insects and animals had been taken to high altitudes in balloons and rockets since the 18th century. The Soviet Union sent <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/sad-story-laika-space-dog-and-her-one-way-trip-orbit-1-180968728/">the dog Laika</a> into orbit on Sputnik 2 in 1957. She died, but from overheating rather than the effects of space travel itself.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-animal-astronauts-paved-the-way-for-human-space-flight-52528">How animal astronauts paved the way for human space flight</a>
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<p>While the USSR focused on dogs, the US turned to chimpanzees as they were the most like humans. The stakes became higher when US President John F. Kennedy promised to land humans on the Moon by the end of the 1960s.</p>
<h2>Biography of a non-human astronaut</h2>
<p>Ham was born in 1957 in a rainforest in the Central African nation of Cameroon, then a French territory. He was captured and taken to an astronaut school for chimps at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. </p>
<p>The astrochimps were trained to pull levers, with a banana pellet as a reward and an electric shock to the feet for failure. The chosen chimp would test life support systems and demonstrate that equipment could be operated during spaceflight. Ham showed great aptitude, and was selected the day before the flight.</p>
<p>On January 31, 1961, Ham was launched into space, strapped into a capsule inside the nosecone of a Mercury-Redstone rocket. The rocket travelled at 9,000km/h, and reached an altitude of 251km. The whole flight took 16 minutes from launch to return. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379693/original/file-20210120-13-ore9a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379693/original/file-20210120-13-ore9a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=730&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379693/original/file-20210120-13-ore9a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=730&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379693/original/file-20210120-13-ore9a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=730&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379693/original/file-20210120-13-ore9a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379693/original/file-20210120-13-ore9a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379693/original/file-20210120-13-ore9a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ham with one of his handlers on the day of the spaceflight.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Throughout the journey Ham was obliged to pull a lever. He received two shocks for not doing this correctly, out of 50 pulls. He achieved this with a 16cm rectal thermometer in place to monitor his temperature. </p>
<p>He experienced 6.6 minutes of free fall and 14.7_g_ of acceleration on descent – much greater than predicted. The biomedical data showed Ham experienced stress during acceleration and deceleration. </p>
<p>Jane Goodall, an expert in primate behaviour, said she had <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/animal-magic/2013/dec/16/ham-chimpanzee-hero-or-victim">never seen such terror</a> in a chimp’s expression. However, Ham was calm when weightless.</p>
<p>Ham survived the flight itself, but nearly drowned when the capsule started filling with water after its ocean splashdown. Fortunately, the helicopter recovery team reached him in time. Ham’s treat on emerging from the spacecraft was an apple, which he devoured eagerly.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379702/original/file-20210120-17-ubpa2u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379702/original/file-20210120-17-ubpa2u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379702/original/file-20210120-17-ubpa2u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379702/original/file-20210120-17-ubpa2u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379702/original/file-20210120-17-ubpa2u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1057&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379702/original/file-20210120-17-ubpa2u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1057&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/379702/original/file-20210120-17-ubpa2u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1057&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ham clasps the hand of a member of the recovery team after exit from the capsule.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After his flight, Ham lived for 20 years by himself, in a zoo in Washington DC. People wrote him letters, and some were answered by zoo staff signed with Ham’s fingerprint. In 1980 he was sent to another zoo to live with a group of chimps. He died in 1983 at the age of 26. </p>
<p>A proposal to stuff and display his body was abandoned after an outcry. But he did undergo a postmortem. Ham’s flesh was stripped from his skeleton, cremated, and <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/pilgrimage-to-the-grave-of-ham-the-astrochimp/">buried at the Space Hall of Fame</a> in Almogordo, New Mexico. The National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington DC retains his bones.</p>
<h2>Cyborg and simian, man and machine</h2>
<p>Ham sits at an interesting intersection of race, gender and species. “Ham” was an acronym for Holloman Aero Medical, but as American philosopher of science Donna Haraway <a href="https://www.lopezlabourdette.com/pdf/Promises_of_Monster_HARAWAY.doc">has pointed out</a>, “Ham’s name inevitably recalls Noah’s youngest and only black son”.</p>
<p>While the chimps were in training at the Holloman Airforce Base, women were actively excluded from spaceflight. Pilot Jerrie Cobb said she would <a href="https://theconversation.com/almost-90-of-astronauts-have-been-men-but-the-future-of-space-may-be-female-125644">take the place of one of the chimps</a> if it meant having a shot at space.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/almost-90-of-astronauts-have-been-men-but-the-future-of-space-may-be-female-125644">Almost 90% of astronauts have been men. But the future of space may be female</a>
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<p>The astronauts of the 1960s Mercury program felt their masculinity threatened by performing the same tasks as chimps. In a scene from the 1983 film <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Right_Stuff_(book)">The Right Stuff</a>, based on Tom Wolfe’s book for which he did extensive interviews with the astronauts, one says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Well none of us wants to think that they’re going to send a monkey up to do a man’s work … what they’re trying to do to us is send a man up to do a monkey’s work. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the I Dream of Jeannie episode “Fly me to the Moon” (1967), astronauts Tony Nelson and Roger Healey train Sam the chimp for spaceflight. </p>
<p>They are envious that Sam gets to go to the Moon before them. “He can’t make any decisions, we might as well have a robot up there,” says Major Nelson. </p>
<p>This refers to an ongoing battle among both Soviet and US astronauts about how much autonomy they would have as pilots. On both sides of the Iron Curtain, being controlled by machines was felt to diminish masculinity. </p>
<p>Chimps in space also threatened the accepted evolutionary order. In some versions of the famous “March of Progress” illustration of human evolution, the first figure is a knuckle-walking ape and the last is an astronaut. Ham was leapfrogging to the front of the evolutionary queue in a Planet of the Apes-style interspecies competition.</p>
<p>Ham’s spaceflight made him more than animal, but still less than human. </p>
<p>A mere 10 weeks after Ham’s feat, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space when he orbited Earth on April 12. On November 26, Enos the chimp completed an orbit. </p>
<p>We don’t send animals into orbit any more as proxies for human experience. But there is one chimp still in space. The calls of a wild chimp <a href="https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/assets/audio/golden-record/chimpanzee.wav">were recorded</a> on the Voyager Golden Records, now heading out beyond the Solar system.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153644/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alice Gorman receives funding from the Australian Research Council to study human adaptations to space on the International Space Station. She is a member of the Advisory Council of the Space Industry Association of Australia.</span></em></p>The strange journey of Ham the chimpanzee from a rainforest in Cameroon to the edge of space.Alice Gorman, Associate Professor in Archaeology and Space Studies, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1410422020-07-09T04:02:08Z2020-07-09T04:02:08Z‘Living fossils’: we mapped half a billion years of horseshoe crabs to save them from blood harvests<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345986/original/file-20200707-27858-x1kgcv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C0%2C5160%2C3445&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you ventured to the New York seaside in summer, you might see a large dome-shaped animal with a spiky tail, slowly moving towards the water. These are horseshoe crabs – the animals time forgot.</p>
<p>Fossil records for horseshoe crabs extend back about 480 million years. This is well over 200 million years before the dinosaurs. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-giant-species-of-trilobite-inhabited-australian-waters-half-a-billion-years-ago-118452">A giant species of trilobite inhabited Australian waters half a billion years ago</a>
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<p>More recently, horseshoe crabs have greatly helped advance modern medicine. Their blood is used to identify <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/endotoxin">endotoxins</a> in solutions. These are toxins found in bacteria, so anyone who has had an injection or surgery has been kept safe from dangerous toxins thanks to these creatures.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the harvesting of their blood for this purpose is one reason horseshoe crabs are becoming an <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/biology-fields/horseshoe-crabs-endangered-biomedical-bloodletting.htm">endangered group</a>. Our <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2020.00098/abstract">research</a> published today in Frontiers in Earth Science will hopefully aid conservation efforts to protect these enigmatic creatures.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342637/original/file-20200618-41200-1grm5ca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342637/original/file-20200618-41200-1grm5ca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342637/original/file-20200618-41200-1grm5ca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342637/original/file-20200618-41200-1grm5ca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342637/original/file-20200618-41200-1grm5ca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342637/original/file-20200618-41200-1grm5ca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342637/original/file-20200618-41200-1grm5ca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The American horseshoe crab <em>Limulus polyphemus</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">WikiCommons.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A modern medical marvel</h2>
<p>Completely harmless, but spiky like a cactus, horseshoe crabs are not actually crabs. They don’t have the antennae or jaws their crustacean cousins do, and have additional pairs of legs (13 in total). In fact, they’re more closely related to spiders and scorpions than crabs. </p>
<p>Defined within their own order, <a href="https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/chelicerata/xiphosura.html">Xiphosura</a>, these animals are characterised by a horseshoe-shaped head section, a roundish hexagonal backside and a long tail. They are, in essence, a spider in a suit of armour that can swim upside down. </p>
<p>Horseshoe crabs have been used in medicine for at least the <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.2006607">past 40 years</a>. Their endotoxin-revealing blood is blue and copper-based (unlike our red, iron-based blood). </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/blood-in-your-veins-is-not-blue-heres-why-its-always-red-97064">Blood in your veins is not blue – here's why it's always red</a>
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<p>A chemical refined from their blood can be used to identify contaminants in medical equipment that is inserted into <a href="https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/how-horseshoe-crab-blood-saves-millions-lives/">humans</a>. </p>
<p>Blue blood is used to make sure injections, IV drips, and any implanted medical devices are safe for human use.</p>
<h2>Blue bloodletting</h2>
<p>However, to access this natural medicinal miracle, humans must collect horseshoe crabs and harvest their blood. While blood loss itself may not be the main cause of death, other factors such as capture and transport can impact group survival. </p>
<p>At present, with improved practices, between <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2018.00185/full?utm_source=FWEB&utm_medium=NBLOG&utm_campaign=ECO_FMARS_horseshoe-crab-blood#h11">6-15.4% </a> of horseshoe crabs die from harvesting.</p>
<p>This process represents one of the main threats to them today, even though a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/05/blood-in-the-water/559229/">synthetic substitute</a> for blue blood has been available for nearly two decades. However, there is uncertainty around the efficacy of this alternative, so horseshoe crabs are <a href="https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2019/10/22/horseshoe-crab-the-blue-blood-that-saves-millions-of-lives/">still harvested</a>.</p>
<p>As a result, two of the four living species – the Chinese horseshoe crab and American horseshoe crab (also called the Atlantic horseshoe crab) – have been placed on the <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/search?taxonomies=101493&searchType=species">International Union for Conservation of Nature’s</a> vulnerable and endangered species list.</p>
<p>Apart from bloodletting for biomedical use, <a href="https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Invertebrates/Horseshoe-Crab">other threats</a> facing horseshoe crabs include overharvesting, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989419306997">human interaction and serious habitat modification</a>.</p>
<h2>Fantastic beasts, and where to find them (online)</h2>
<p>To help raise awareness about the challenges horseshoe crabs face, we created an <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2020.00098/abstract">atlas of all fossil and living Xiphosura</a>. This free, open access collection contains photos of every horseshoe crab species ever described in the group’s 480-million-year history. </p>
<p>Alongside the photos, we provide outlines of how the four living species survived until now. </p>
<p>Building this atlas took three years. It involved emailing more than 100 researchers and museum managers, and even travelling from Australia to England, Germany, Russia, Slovenia and the United States to collect photographs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342937/original/file-20200619-70381-16myyr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342937/original/file-20200619-70381-16myyr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342937/original/file-20200619-70381-16myyr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=241&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342937/original/file-20200619-70381-16myyr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=241&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342937/original/file-20200619-70381-16myyr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=241&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342937/original/file-20200619-70381-16myyr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342937/original/file-20200619-70381-16myyr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342937/original/file-20200619-70381-16myyr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=302&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Examples of fossil horseshoe crabs. Left to right: <em>Pickettia carteri</em>, <em>Albalimulus bottoni</em>, <em>Sloveniolimulus rudkini</em>, and <em>Tasmaniolimulus patersoni</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reconstructions by Elissa Johnson and Katrina Kenny</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The result is an example of every single horseshoe crab species ever documented, living or extinct – more than 110 in total.</p>
<h2>The ‘living fossil’ that roamed with dinosaurs</h2>
<p>Our atlas can help highlight the unique and complex evolutionary history of horseshoe crabs. </p>
<p>These arthropods (invertebrates with an exoskeleton and jointed legs) survived all mass extinctions. Some have changed in appearance through time. For example, we have completely bizarre fossil forms, such as <em>Austrolimulus</em> – essentially a pick-axe in horseshoe crab form.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342654/original/file-20200618-41221-18cmqhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342654/original/file-20200618-41221-18cmqhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342654/original/file-20200618-41221-18cmqhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342654/original/file-20200618-41221-18cmqhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342654/original/file-20200618-41221-18cmqhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342654/original/file-20200618-41221-18cmqhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342654/original/file-20200618-41221-18cmqhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=553&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Austrolimulus fletcheri</em> lived in the New South Wales area during the Triassic. They’re a truly unique species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Patrick Smith.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, some fossil species look very similar to modern ones. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342656/original/file-20200618-41242-hdtdm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342656/original/file-20200618-41242-hdtdm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342656/original/file-20200618-41242-hdtdm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342656/original/file-20200618-41242-hdtdm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=973&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342656/original/file-20200618-41242-hdtdm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1223&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342656/original/file-20200618-41242-hdtdm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1223&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/342656/original/file-20200618-41242-hdtdm7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1223&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Mesolimulus walchi</em>, from the Solnhofen Limestone in Germany.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Russell Bicknell/Paläontologisches Museum, München specimen.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Compare the Jurassic-aged fossil <em>Mesolimulus</em>, found in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solnhofen_Limestone">Solnhofen Limestone</a> in Germany, to American horseshoe crabs walking along the North American coast today. They are practically the same. </p>
<p>Apart from size differences, horseshoes crabs have changed very little over the past 150 million years or so, earning them the moniker “living fossils”. But while specimens in the fossil record are between 3-30cm long, horseshoe crabs today can grow to more than 80cm.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, horseshoe crab populations have been decreasing significantly due to blood harvesting. There’s now <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/03/horseshoe-crab-population-at-risk-blood-big-pharma">genuine concern</a> humans will drive these organisms to extinction.</p>
<p>Expanding our collective knowledge could help fuel future conservation efforts. Let’s prevent these unique icons of a bygone era from passing into the annals of history. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/giant-sea-scorpions-were-the-underwater-titans-of-prehistoric-australia-141290">Giant sea scorpions were the underwater titans of prehistoric Australia</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141042/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Russell Dean Christopher Bicknell received funding for this project in the following forms: a University of New England Post Doctoral Fellowship, Betty Mayne Scientific Research Fund, James R Welch Scholarship, and a Schuchert and Dunbar Grants in Aid Program. He is also a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Horseshoe Crab Species Specialist Group.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Pates is a postdoctoral fellow funded by the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University.</span></em></p>A chemical refined from the blue, copper-based blood of horseshoe crabs helps identify contaminants in medical equipment inserted into humans.Russell Dean Christopher Bicknell, Post-doctoral researcher in Palaeobiology , University of New EnglandStephen Pates, Postdoctoral fellow, Harvard UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1336302020-04-02T23:45:32Z2020-04-02T23:45:32ZThis lizard lays eggs and gives live birth. We think it’s undergoing a major evolutionary transition<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320542/original/file-20200315-50538-1hweilq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C16%2C3657%2C2058&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nicholas Wu</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Our earliest vertebrate (animals with backbones) ancestors laid eggs, but over millions of years of evolution, some species began to give birth to live young. </p>
<p>There is a traditional dichotomy in vertebrate reproduction: species either lay eggs or have live births. However, as is often the case in biology, things aren’t as simple as they first appear, and there are a handful of vertebrate animals that do both.</p>
<p>One of these is the three-toed skink (<em>Saiphos equalis</em>). <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.15409">Our recent research</a> suggests the egg-laying <em>S. equalis</em> may currently be in the process of transitioning from egg-laying to giving live birth.</p>
<p>Studying them gives us a unique opportunity to watch evolution in action.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320547/original/file-20200315-50543-2fa3gj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320547/original/file-20200315-50543-2fa3gj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320547/original/file-20200315-50543-2fa3gj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320547/original/file-20200315-50543-2fa3gj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320547/original/file-20200315-50543-2fa3gj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320547/original/file-20200315-50543-2fa3gj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320547/original/file-20200315-50543-2fa3gj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"><em>Saiphos equalis</em> has a distinctive yellow belly, and a long, slender body, ideal for its underground lifestyle.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Charles Foster</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>From eggs to babies, and back again?</h2>
<p>There are two main reproductive strategies in vertebrates. </p>
<p>Animals that lay eggs are called “oviparous”. For instance, many fish species spawn eggs that are fertilised externally. In other oviparous species, including birds and some lizards and snakes, eggs are fertilised inside the mother, an eggshell is added, and then eggs are laid. </p>
<p>Depending on the species, much or all of the nutrition needed to grow a healthy baby is supplied in the egg yolk.</p>
<p>In contrast, “viviparous” animals carry embryos internally until they are fully developed. The embryos can rely entirely on yolk for nutrition, or the parents can provide supplementary nutrition, sometimes via a placenta (as in humans).</p>
<p>There is strong evidence that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24652663">egg-laying is ancestral to live birth</a>, meaning it came first. Many physiological changes were necessary for live birth to have evolved from egg-laying. With this transition, some structures were lost, including the hard outer eggshell. Other mechanisms were gained to ensure embryonic survival within the parent, including the supply of adequate oxygen and water during development.</p>
<p>The evolution of live birth has occurred frequently, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24652663">including at least 121 times in independent groups of reptiles</a>. </p>
<p>Evolutionary “reversals” to egg-laying are much rarer, probably because <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jez.b.22614">regaining the physiological machinery for producing eggshells</a> would be exceptionally difficult.</p>
<h2>¿Por que no los dos?</h2>
<p>Despite the vast differences between egg-laying and live birth, some species can do both. This phenomenon called “bimodal reproduction” is exceptionally rare. There are <a href="http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/search?search=lizard&submit=Search">more than 6500 species of lizards worldwide</a>, but only three exhibit bimodal reproduction. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lizards-help-us-find-out-which-came-first-the-baby-or-the-egg-29954">Lizards help us find out which came first: the baby or the egg?</a>
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<p>We’re lucky enough to have two of these in Australia. <a href="https://www.camillawhittington.com/">Our research group</a> at the University of Sydney studies the bimodally reproductive three-toed skink, in the hope of understanding how live birth evolved. </p>
<p>In northern NSW, the three-toed skink <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/zo/zo97023">gives birth to live young, but near Sydney, they lay eggs</a>. Even though they reproduce differently, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article/74/2/131/2639614">previous research</a> has shown these lizards are a single species.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320548/original/file-20200315-50551-w9rfd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320548/original/file-20200315-50551-w9rfd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320548/original/file-20200315-50551-w9rfd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320548/original/file-20200315-50551-w9rfd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=637&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320548/original/file-20200315-50551-w9rfd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320548/original/file-20200315-50551-w9rfd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320548/original/file-20200315-50551-w9rfd1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The three-toed skink displays geographic variation in reproductive mode. It has four very tiny legs, and only three toes per foot.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yi-Kai Tea</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Even the egg-laying members of the species are odd, as the eggs are retained within the mother for a relatively long time. After being laid, ordinary skink eggs are <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1420-9101.1998.11010063.x">incubated for at least 35 days</a> before they hatch, but some three-toed skink eggs <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/zo/zo97023">hatch in as few as five days</a> after being laid.</p>
<p>One female even <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-first-known-case-of-eggs-plus-live-birth-from-one-pregnancy-in-a-tiny-lizard-113460">laid eggs and gave birth to a live baby in the same litter</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320543/original/file-20200315-50583-1psbn01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320543/original/file-20200315-50583-1psbn01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320543/original/file-20200315-50583-1psbn01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320543/original/file-20200315-50583-1psbn01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320543/original/file-20200315-50583-1psbn01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320543/original/file-20200315-50583-1psbn01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320543/original/file-20200315-50583-1psbn01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320543/original/file-20200315-50583-1psbn01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An egg-laying three-toed skink from near Sydney with its clutch of eggs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephanie Liang</span></span>
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</figure>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-first-known-case-of-eggs-plus-live-birth-from-one-pregnancy-in-a-tiny-lizard-113460">The first known case of eggs plus live birth from one pregnancy in a tiny lizard</a>
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<h2>The genetics behind different reproductive modes</h2>
<p>Most aspects of an animal’s development are controlled by its genes, but not every gene is always active. Genes can be expressed (switched on) to different degrees, and gene expression can stop when not needed.</p>
<p>An egg-laying skink uterus undergoes <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5174741/">only a couple of genetic changes</a> between being empty and holding an egg. </p>
<p>A live-bearing skink uterus is different. It undergoes <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3318437/">thousands of genetic changes</a> to help support the developing baby, including genes that probably help provide oxygen and water, and regulate the mother’s immune system to keep the baby safe from <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/01/key-successful-pregnancy-tamed-immune-reaction">immunological attack</a>.</p>
<h2>Unexpected similarities between the egg-laying and the live-bearing</h2>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.15409">Our research</a> measured changes in gene expression between egg-laying and live-birth in the three-toed skink. We investigated how the expression of all genes in the uterus differed between when the uterus was empty and when it held an egg or embryo.</p>
<p>As expected, live-bearing <em>S. equalis</em>, undergo thousands of genetic changes during pregnancy to produce a healthy baby. </p>
<p>But surprisingly, when we looked at the uterus of the egg-laying <em>S. equalis</em>, we found these also undergo thousands of genetic changes, many of which are similar to those in their live-bearing counterparts. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320544/original/file-20200315-50583-15ws3px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320544/original/file-20200315-50583-15ws3px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320544/original/file-20200315-50583-15ws3px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320544/original/file-20200315-50583-15ws3px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320544/original/file-20200315-50583-15ws3px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320544/original/file-20200315-50583-15ws3px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/320544/original/file-20200315-50583-15ws3px.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Embryos of egg-laying Saiphos equalis are nearly completely developed at the time of laying.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephanie Liang</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Some of the most important genetic changes in gene expression in egg-laying <em>S. equalis</em> allow embryos to develop within the mother for a long time. These genes also seem to allow the uterus to remodel to accommodate a growing embryo, and drive the same kinds of functions required for the embryonic development in live-birthing three-toed skinks.</p>
<h2>Are ‘reversals’ to egg-laying easier than previously thought?</h2>
<p>Our findings are important because they demonstrate that egg-laying three-toed skinks are an evolutionary intermediate between “true” egg-laying and live birth.</p>
<p>We now know that uterine gene expression in egg-laying <em>S. equalis</em> mirrors live-bearing skinks much more closely than true egg-laying skinks. These results may explain why it’s possible for a female three-toed skink to <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbl.2018.0827">lay eggs and give birth to a live baby in a single pregnancy</a>.</p>
<p>The similarities in gene expression between egg-laying and live-bearing three-toed skink uteri might also mean “reversals” from live birth back to egg-laying could be be easier than previously thought. However, this may be restricted to species in which live-birth has evolved recently, such as the three-toed skink.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-were-not-giving-up-the-search-for-mainland-australias-first-extinct-lizard-117831">Why we're not giving up the search for mainland Australia's 'first extinct lizard'</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133630/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Foster receives funding from The University of Sydney. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Camilla Whittington receives funding from The University of Sydney and the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>The three-toed skink can give birth to live young and lay eggs in the same pregnancy. What can this little critter teach us about the evolution of live birth?Charles Foster, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of SydneyCamilla Whittington, Senior lecturer, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1305132020-03-05T20:58:44Z2020-03-05T20:58:44ZInternational Women’s Day: Female biologists bring much-needed perspective to science<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318760/original/file-20200304-127951-1o2avog.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C20%2C6720%2C3712&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">More women are becoming biologists, and this inclusion means that we are learning more about female species and reproduction.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On International Women’s Day, people across the world are taking part in Wikipedia <a href="https://500womenscientists.org/wikipedia-editathon">edit-a-thons</a> to address gender bias in the online encyclopedia’s biographies. </p>
<p>Currently, only about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-016-0066-4">17 per cent</a> of Wikipedia’s biography pages are about women. Many of the edit-a-thons will specifically focus on women in STEM. </p>
<p>Scientific fields have not only overlooked female researchers, but have also overlooked research into female biology, both of humans and animals. For centuries, our understanding of the natural world has been shaped by a predominately male perspective. But this is changing, thanks to pioneering biologists. </p>
<h2>Male and female behaviours</h2>
<p>Evolutionary biologist Sara Lipshutz, for example, studies <a href="http://vps40083.inmotionhosting.com/%7Esicb/meetings/2020/schedule/abstractdetails.php?id=84">mechanisms underlying sex-role reversal in the jacana, a tropical wading bird</a>. Jacana females aggressively compete for mates while the males provide parental care. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1233096730511581184"}"></div></p>
<p><a href="https://wolfnerlab.wixsite.com/wolfnerlab">Molecular biologist Mariana Wolfner</a> studies how <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31101677">female insects’ genetics influence which male’s sperm (of the many she mates with) are “chosen” to fertilize the ovum</a>. Zoologist Kay Holekamp studies how <a href="https://www.holekamplab.org/spotted-hyena.html">reproduction is affected by both competition and co-operation in female hyenas</a>.</p>
<h2>Active male, passive female?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.18549%2FPharmPract.2016.01.708">inclusion of women in clinical trials</a> and female animals in pre-clinical trials has received a lot of attention in recent years, but our understanding of the natural world has also been influenced by a male-dominated culture. And this problem dates back to antiquity.</p>
<p>“Let’s go back to Aristotle,” says Virginia Hayssen, a mammologist at Smith College in Northampton, Mass. Aristotle believed that during conception, <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8bb0/9604c5cd8247a9e4ee9959abd463476db103.pdf">the father contributed form — in other words, the immutable essence of a thing — and the mother provided the receptacle in which this form developed</a>.</p>
<p>“Although we understand the process better now, we haven’t really gotten past that idea that the male is active and the female is passive,” says Hayssen.</p>
<p>Traditionally, she says, conception is presented as the sperms’ race to the ovum. But the female reproductive tract is actually hugely influential in transporting the sperm to the ovum and in determining which sperm is the winner.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318763/original/file-20200304-127918-1x7qrfb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318763/original/file-20200304-127918-1x7qrfb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318763/original/file-20200304-127918-1x7qrfb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318763/original/file-20200304-127918-1x7qrfb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318763/original/file-20200304-127918-1x7qrfb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318763/original/file-20200304-127918-1x7qrfb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318763/original/file-20200304-127918-1x7qrfb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318763/original/file-20200304-127918-1x7qrfb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A female fruit fly. Research conducted by molecular biologist Mariana Wolfner is identifying the mechanisms by which reproduction occurs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Widening the focus</h2>
<p>Many biologists are coming to realize that we’ve missed a lot by having such a narrow focus. “We can’t tell the whole story with our science if we’re imposing our biases on an animal system,” says Lipshutz. </p>
<p>Without fully understanding the male and female sides of reproduction, we won’t be able to understand how species evolve, since reproduction is a central component of evolution. Lipshutz also notes that understanding more about how females communicate, compete and choose mates could have important implications for conservation.</p>
<p>So, is the field as a whole finally undergoing a cultural shift to value female-focused research as much as male-focused research? Some say no.</p>
<p>“I would say that the male perspective is as dominant as it ever was,” says Hayssen, who was a co-organizer of a symposium on <a href="http://sicb.org/meetings/2020/symposia/reproduction.php">reproduction from a female perspective at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology annual meeting, held in January 2020</a>. </p>
<p>But others have a slightly more optimistic outlook. While acknowledging that there is still a long way to go, scientists including Lipshutz and Teri Orr, <a href="https://teriorr.weebly.com/">an evolutionary ecologist at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces</a> and co-organizer of the symposium, say they feel that progress is being made.</p>
<p>Some of these advancements have been at least partially driven by improvements in technology.</p>
<p>Orr says one example of this is red-winged blackbird reproduction. For a long time, biologists thought that a male maintained a territory with many females who mated exclusively with this male. It was only once DNA testing became available that scientists were able to run <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.250.4986.1394">paternity tests on the baby birds</a> and determine that many had not been fathered by the male who was in charge of the territory, showing that females were behaving in unexpected ways.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-genetic-testing-is-helping-scientists-save-animals-from-disease-and-illegal-hunting-129676">How genetic testing is helping scientists save animals from disease and illegal hunting</a>
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<h2>Inclusion and representation</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318759/original/file-20200304-127904-1r74nr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318759/original/file-20200304-127904-1r74nr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318759/original/file-20200304-127904-1r74nr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318759/original/file-20200304-127904-1r74nr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318759/original/file-20200304-127904-1r74nr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318759/original/file-20200304-127904-1r74nr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318759/original/file-20200304-127904-1r74nr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318759/original/file-20200304-127904-1r74nr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Reproduction in Mammals: The Female Perspective’ (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017) presents a female perspective and an examination of the evolution of reproduction in mammals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://muse.jhu.edu/book/55865">Johns Hopkins University Press</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But Lipshutz and Orr say that many of these changes have been driven by the culture of the field as well. After all, new technologies wouldn’t have made any difference if scientists had used them to answer the same old questions about the biology of males.</p>
<p>“I think it has to do with representation,” says Lipshutz. “There are many models of how women are still not getting equal representation in academia, but I do think it’s much better than it was 20 years ago. And so I think it makes sense that our perspectives are often shaped by that diversity.”</p>
<p>Orr says that she sees a big generational difference as well. She says younger generations of academics realize that these are important issues that need to be addressed.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, there’s still much that needs to be done, both inside and outside academia. For one thing, there’s still an immense amount of research that must to be carried out before our understanding of female biology catches up with our understanding of male biology.</p>
<p>Orr, Lipshutz and Hayssen also stress the importance of education and mentorship in helping to address these issues. Regarding the importance of female biology, Orr says: “The question is how do we bring that back into the classroom? Because that’s where stereotypes are challenged, that’s where people really learn the material.” In an attempt to improve education about females, Orr and Hayssen have written a textbook, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/book.55865"><em>Reproduction in Mammals: The Female Perspective</em></a>.</p>
<p>Hayssen notes that the media has an important role to play as well. What happens next, she says, “depends on whether all this still gets shoved under the rug or whether [journalists] carry the torch forward and get other people interested in it.”</p>
<p>But many biologists are hopeful about what the future will bring. </p>
<p>“Younger folks in the field are really passionate,” says Orr. “I do think some big changes are definitely around the corner and I’m very excited to see what happens.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130513/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah Thomasy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The rise in female researchers has expanded our knowledge of female biology in human and nonhuman animals.Hannah Thomasy, Global Journalism Fellow, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1034392018-09-21T04:18:38Z2018-09-21T04:18:38ZIs it time for Australia to be more open about research involving animals?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237027/original/file-20180919-146148-qzqyzc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Most people never have the chance to see how animals live in laboratories.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/rodents-raised-ivc-rodent-caging-system-532710010?src=UBG2OMQs3lQPDnebMHZEeA-1-11">from www.shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The use of animals in scientific research is a complex ethical issue, and these studies typically take place behind closed doors.</p>
<p>But since 2012, more than 120 of Britain’s universities, research institutions and pharmaceutical companies have signed a public pledge committing them to greater openness in their animal research programs.</p>
<p>The commmitment is called the <a href="http://concordatopenness.org.uk/">Concordat on Openness on Animal Research</a> – and there’s an argument to be made that a similar movement should be started in Australia. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-live-export-trade-is-unethical-it-puts-money-ahead-of-animals-pain-96849">The live export trade is unethical. It puts money ahead of animals' pain</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Pros and cons</h2>
<p>Crucial advances in fields such as medicine and psychology have occurred through clinical trials and experiments involving animals. Experiments on living subjects are inherently risky, and many would argue that it is better to impose the initial risk on non-human animals and only move on to human subjects after there is more evidence of safety. </p>
<p>Proponents of this approach sometimes appeal to the (controversial) idea that human beings have a higher moral status due to greater rational capacities that are <a href="http://admin.cambridge.org/academic/subjects/philosophy/political-philosophy/animals-issue-moral-theory-practice?format=AR">supposedly necessary for having rights</a>. </p>
<p>On the other hand, there have been numerous instances of animals being forced to endure extreme suffering for the sake of trivial findings, such as the infamous 1972 <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.me.23.020172.002203">learned helplessness experiments of Martin Seligman</a>, in which dogs were given repeated painful shocks. </p>
<p>Even if it is necessary to conduct at least some trials on living subjects, it’s not unreasonable to suggest that human beings should be the ones to bear the burdens of their own scientific pursuits. </p>
<p>Such a position draws support from the ethical intuition that a given quantity of suffering endured by any one individual is of <a href="https://www.hackettpublishing.com/the-methods-of-ethics">no more or less importance</a> than the equal suffering of any other (regardless of race, gender, or species). </p>
<p>And, unlike human beings, non-human animals are incapable of consenting. </p>
<h2>A history of hostility</h2>
<p>As with most contentious ethical issues, the apparent reasonableness of each side’s concerns can lead to hostility. <a href="https://www.nature.com/collections/mnzcndqhts">Animosity</a> between researchers and animal welfare advocates can make it all the more <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/9142295/Medical-research-at-risk-due-to-animal-rights-activists.html">difficult to resolve their disagreements</a>. </p>
<p>Further, as activists become more vocal, scientists are motivated to be less open about their use of animals. This lack of transparency leaves the public less informed while fuelling distrust on the part of those who aim to protect animals’ interests. </p>
<p>It seems reasonable to aim for reduced hostility while searching for an arrangement that comes as close as possible to being morally tolerable for all parties to the debate. </p>
<p>A promising strategy along these lines has been implemented in the UK. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/animal-research-is-it-a-necessary-evil-95815">Animal research: is it a necessary evil?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Concordat on openness</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://concordatopenness.org.uk/">Concordat on Openness in Animal Research in the UK</a> has led to substantial improvements in the way researchers engage with the public about their use of animals. </p>
<p>The pledge requires institutions to: </p>
<ul>
<li>be clear about when, how and why they use animals in research</li>
<li>enhance communications with the media and public</li>
<li>be proactive in providing opportunities for the public to learn about animal research</li>
<li>report annually on their experiences and share their practices.</li>
</ul>
<p>Some facilities even offer <a href="http://www.labanimaltour.org/">virtual lab tours</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237030/original/file-20180919-158240-9nyiir.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237030/original/file-20180919-158240-9nyiir.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237030/original/file-20180919-158240-9nyiir.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237030/original/file-20180919-158240-9nyiir.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237030/original/file-20180919-158240-9nyiir.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237030/original/file-20180919-158240-9nyiir.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237030/original/file-20180919-158240-9nyiir.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237030/original/file-20180919-158240-9nyiir.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Oxford University provides a virtual tour of some animal research facilities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.labanimaltour.org/oxford">Screen shot captured September 19, 2018.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although openness is not enough to eliminate ethical concerns, it has the important benefit of preventing the public from assuming the worst when it comes to animal experiments. It also helps ensure that research institutions follow ethical guidelines. </p>
<p>For countries such as Australia that have strong regulations on animal research, it only makes sense to encourage a pledge of transparency similar to the UK Concordat. </p>
<h2>It won’t be easy</h2>
<p>Some researchers may not be eager to make such a pledge. One obvious interpretation of such reluctance would be that animals are being used in ways that are morally objectionable. </p>
<p>But hesitancy could also be motivated by concern that the public’s lack of understanding will obscure the potential benefits, and perhaps also make the treatment of animals seem more severe than it is. </p>
<p>However, this possibility is all the more reason for researchers to take the opportunity to explain themselves and educate the public. </p>
<p>Of course, doing so requires substantial time and effort. But these costs are outweighed by the potential improvements in relations among researchers and animal activists, as well as a more informed dialogue about these issues. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237031/original/file-20180919-158240-doskj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237031/original/file-20180919-158240-doskj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237031/original/file-20180919-158240-doskj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237031/original/file-20180919-158240-doskj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237031/original/file-20180919-158240-doskj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237031/original/file-20180919-158240-doskj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237031/original/file-20180919-158240-doskj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many drugs used in humans were first tested in animal trials.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/chemotherapy-171516044?src=u2m-DdiX6SCjK-Kw9vvVmg-1-3">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Secrecy only leads to more divisiveness and hostility, including possible direct action that can interfere with research. Lack of openness can also lead to a general lack of trust in scientific researchers among the general public, which is something that isn’t good for anyone. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-lab-grown-meat-be-labelled-as-meat-when-its-available-for-sale-93129">Should lab-grown meat be labelled as meat when it's available for sale?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Some animal activists might worry that a formal pledge of openness will be used as a shield in order to legitimise the use of animals in perpetuity. Perhaps the prevailing view will be that as long as researchers are transparent and follow regulations, there are no legitimate grounds for further protest. </p>
<p>However, given that animal experimentation is ongoing, the most promising route to reduce unnecessary suffering is to ensure openness. Rather than putting an end to the debate, transparency can carry it forward with more information and a higher degree of amicability. This would be an improved outcome for all parties involved, including the animals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103439/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tyler Paytas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Since 2012, more than 120 of Britain’s universities, research institutions and pharmaceutical companies have signed a public pledge committing them to greater openness in their animal research programs.Tyler Paytas, Research Fellow in Philosophy, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/958152018-05-23T12:34:07Z2018-05-23T12:34:07ZAnimal research: is it a necessary evil?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220114/original/file-20180523-51102-11tq3zb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.epa.eu/science-photos/research-photos/obesity-research-center-expands-tissue-bank-photos-50164080">EPA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every year, millions of animals are used in scientific research across the UK. <a href="http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/animals/numbers-animals/#Numbers%20of%20animals%20used%20in%202016">Statistics</a> suggest that almost four million scientific procedures were carried out on animals in 2016 alone. The majority of these were reported to be on mice (73%), followed by fish (14%), rats (6%) and birds (4%). The remaining proportion was made up of other species including horses and other equines (0.23%), dogs (0.13%), primates (0.09%) and cats (0.004%).</p>
<p>These numbers make most of us feel a little uneasy. While many understand and accept (perhaps reluctantly) that animal research is necessary for tackling the major health, environmental and economic issues of our times, the fact that so many animals are used for advancing these causes can seem counter-progressive and cruel.</p>
<p>Still, we cannot shy away from the reality that this research is going on and is of huge benefit to human beings and other species. So it is important to consider the facts.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iA_FfVuTfoM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>The animals</h2>
<p>Closer examination of these numbers reveals several things. First, they only include non-human vertebrates – animals with a backbone – and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/cephalopod">cephalopods</a>, such as octopus or squid. These animals are deemed capable of experiencing pain, suffering, distress and lasting harm. As a result they are covered by the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1986/14/contents">Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act</a> (ASPA), the UK legislation for regulation of animal research.</p>
<p>However, trillions of invertebrates – animals without a backbone such as insects, worms, crustaceans and molluscs – are used each year for research into a range of topics including genetics, health and food security. Historically, invertebrate species have been thought to have less developed sensory systems and considered <a href="http://old.iss.it/binary/publ/cont/ANN_13_01_04.pdf">less likely to experience pain</a>; for this reason they are not covered by ASPA legislation.</p>
<p>As our understanding of the physiology and behaviour of these “less feeling” creatures improves, this seemingly arbitrary division of protection for backboned vs non-backboned (with the exception of cephalopods) has started to blur. Recent <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ilarjournal/article/52/2/175/659957">evidence </a> suggests that some invertebrates may well have capacity for <a href="https://www.appliedanimalbehaviour.com/article/S0168-1591(09)00040-9/pdf">feeling pain</a> and distress, so there may be an argument for ASPA inclusion.</p>
<h2>The procedures</h2>
<p>The majority of ASPA-covered research animals are used in genetic research. In 2016, for example, approximately 50% of all animals (<a href="http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/animals/areas-research/breeding-and-gm-mice/">mostly mice</a>) were used for the creation of genetically altered animals.</p>
<p>A large proportion of these creatures – <a href="http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/animals/areas-research/">37% in 2016</a> – were also used in basic research into improvements in the health and safeguarding of various species, and applied research such as the development of antibiotics and vaccines. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220115/original/file-20180523-51127-17vurgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220115/original/file-20180523-51127-17vurgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220115/original/file-20180523-51127-17vurgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220115/original/file-20180523-51127-17vurgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220115/original/file-20180523-51127-17vurgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220115/original/file-20180523-51127-17vurgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220115/original/file-20180523-51127-17vurgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A blood sample is taken from a chicken as part of a bird flu research programme.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.epa.eu/health-photos/diseases-photos/italy-bird-flu-research-photos-00554935">EPA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A contentious area is “regulatory testing” which covers animal use for testing of chemicals to determine hazards to humans. It should be noted that this does not include cosmetic testing, <a href="https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/laboratory/testingchemicals/cosmetics">banned in the UK since 1998</a>. While a relatively smaller percentage (approximately 14% in 2016) in comparison to other uses, this remains a miserable fate for several hundred thousand animals.</p>
<p>Though uncomfortable to discuss, the severity of procedures is also worth considering. Referring to the level of discomfort, pain and suffering that an animal will experience, it is categorised in order of increasing severity: below-threshold; mild; moderate; severe; and non-recovery (death). In 2014, <a href="http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/files/9514/9993/4810/annual-statistics-scientific-procedures-living-animals-2016.pdf">approximately 6% </a> of procedures to ASPA-regulated animals were deemed severe.</p>
<h2>The researchers</h2>
<p>The uneasiness felt by much of the public around the use of animals for research extends into the research community. Many researchers feel strongly conflicted about using animals to support their research, especially those whose aim is to ultimately preserve and protect animals.</p>
<p>This ethical dilemma can motivate a researcher to ensure that research is carried out in a highly humane and responsible manner. It may also assure a strong rationale and high degree of experimental rigour so that results are meaningful and valid.</p>
<p>Maintaining the welfare of animals is also of considerable benefit to researchers. For example, where animals are sick or in discomfort, results will be highly flawed. Animal research can be a costly business, so lack of provision of humane conditions can also lead to major financial losses. Finally, there are major legal implications to consider. Anyone not adhering to regulations can face penalties ranging from the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/619140/ConsolidatedASPA1Jan2013.pdf">loss of research licenses to imprisonment</a>. </p>
<p>The ASPA regulating office (that is, the UK Home Office) and the research community do not take the use of animals lightly, and there are substantial conditions that must be met. First, all research on ASPA-regulated animals cannot be conducted without Home Office licensing of the relevant institute, research project and researcher.</p>
<p>The Home Office also requires that organisations carrying out animal research have a comprehensive and dedicated team of individuals (including their own vet) which oversees all procedures and research personnel. All institutes conducting animal research should also have an <a href="https://science.rspca.org.uk/sciencegroup/researchanimals/ethicalreview/differentsystems/uk">Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body</a> (AWERB) that provides guidance on all aspects of animal well-being. An AWERB also provides ethical review of all research projects and protocols which involve any animals (including invertebrates) in any way.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220116/original/file-20180523-51127-1qk62at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/220116/original/file-20180523-51127-1qk62at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220116/original/file-20180523-51127-1qk62at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220116/original/file-20180523-51127-1qk62at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=693&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220116/original/file-20180523-51127-1qk62at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220116/original/file-20180523-51127-1qk62at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/220116/original/file-20180523-51127-1qk62at.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gene therapy research into Alzheimer’s has studied the brains of hibernating hamsters to explore similarities with an affected human brain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.epa.eu/science-photos/research-photos/scientists-develop-quick-test-for-alzheimer-photos-01215691">EPA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The use of animals in research is by no means ideal and the promotion of ways to reduce this kind of research is well underway. <a href="http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/animals/three-rs/">The 3R principles </a> – replacement, reduction and refinement – provide a framework for animal research by which all researchers and their institutions must demonstrate progression. The 3Rs call for animals to be (i) replaced with alternatives such as models or in vitro approaches (for example, testing takes place on cells which are grown externally rather than using the whole organism); (ii) reduced in numbers (where enough animals are used to ensure statistically significant results but not in excess); and (iii) for experimental procedures to be refined to avoid unnecessary suffering.</p>
<p>In terms of society, it is vital that we are not indifferent about the use of animals in research. Instead, we should each aim for a comprehensive understanding and appreciation of the immense sacrifice that animals provide for the benefit of other life on this planet. We owe them that.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95815/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Clara Mackenzie does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many people feel conflicted about the use of animals in scientific research. But what is actually involved?Clara Mackenzie, Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Aquaculture, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/673082016-10-20T19:15:53Z2016-10-20T19:15:53ZIs the red wine compound resveratrol a miracle drug for infertility and ageing?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142445/original/image-20161020-5009-1npr55r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Resveratrol is found at only trace levels in red wine.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/fitzchev/15251314332/in/photolist-peGYpo-6Ujusr-azdEM4-7PFZA1-7uFYiM-84vwYj-fm9mAq-ojZfp-7TKquV-4af16x-9ad82M-6oQEM8-5yQTGe-7i4rdY-9GMxPb-8HAVK9-qgH4JR-9tuGB4-5cnxH3-7zXgtF-6ugZ4-djjuS1-5Diavg-2C1dVt-7GpoNz-ewWBU1-7qvC6y-rnVrzw-5MhNbh-ofTM8X-g3oJU-61Keie-5Twc6L-a4S5mF-dXkC43-e4gTXq-4oqP1t-6Y1hBw-5H49Dy-7WN9vQ-kS6SS-aUSjeB-5E3jEy-3bWTn4-buwxtD-7zpig5-7NETQv-8ku5N1-acTaYC-5SEotn">Cyril Hanquez/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“A glass of red wine a day could keep polycystic ovaries at bay,” <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3848452/A-glass-red-wine-day-polycystic-ovaries-bay-Compound-grapes-nuts-corrects-hormone-imbalance-women-PCOS.html">said a news headline this week</a>. This and <a href="http://www.tv3.ie/xpose/article/fitness-and-wellbeing/220449/Antioxidant-found-in-red-wine-lowers-chance-of-polycystic-ovaries">similar reports</a> were based on research from a team in Poland and California that showed high daily doses – 1,500 mg – of a natural compound found in red wine, called resveratrol, could lower steroid hormone levels in <a href="http://press.endocrine.org/doi/10.1210/jc.2016-1858">women suffering from polycystic ovarian syndrome</a> (PCOS). This, in effect, should lower symptoms of PCOS including weight gain, excess hair, infertility and abnormal menstrual cycles.</p>
<p>This is not the first time resveratrol has been linked to health benefits. Back in 2006, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/01/science/02winecnd.html">headlines announced</a> a “natural substance found in red wine” could extend lifespan in mice. The internet soon became flooded with <a href="http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.TRS0&_nkw=resveratrol&_sacat=0">online sellers</a> of resveratrol supplements ranging from highly pure, to pills containing mashed up grape skins with very little resveratrol. </p>
<p>The fact resveratrol is naturally found in the skin of red grapes then led to the happy idea that drinking lots of red wine can make you live longer. But unfortunately, resveratrol is found at only <a href="http://www.ajevonline.org/content/43/1/49">trace levels</a> in red wine - so you would need to drink over a thousand bottles per day to obtain the amount of resveratrol found in two 250 mg pills.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142455/original/image-20161020-15094-2x04fx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142455/original/image-20161020-15094-2x04fx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142455/original/image-20161020-15094-2x04fx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142455/original/image-20161020-15094-2x04fx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142455/original/image-20161020-15094-2x04fx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142455/original/image-20161020-15094-2x04fx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142455/original/image-20161020-15094-2x04fx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142455/original/image-20161020-15094-2x04fx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Resveratrol is naturally found in the skin of red grapes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mynameisharsha/3596243364/in/photolist-6tMFRW-bwpyGC-73unWw-pWcx7-iuRtWL-b694Yp-d3nYTS-9k5qNd-8dVNzh-4mVb8E-d33AjL-gBz2xt-bvJU9y-76MeHq-a7KK33-5dgo9C-5XMkRM-5nSwQG-6Brg7c-9dagin-eCnugf-c7gK27-APMUiX-aqq92y-83zNeD-9VCuPx-d33AiQ-9yNNQ9-85iu3F-6rp3HC-91kt5u-v3tW2-efTaX2-85iukt-owjtYv-85mDiw-xxKy9D-85mDmj-tLXVjd-vzz8VE-vdm3XE-62F7Uz-ncrvi5-cDWQtY-jKpcKS-4C7hsn-swgMCF-pNciGd-qrF5Z-7p84hw">Harsha K R/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The 2006 reports - based on a paper <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7117/abs/nature05354.html">published in the esteemed journal Nature</a> – were exciting for science though. Resveratrol <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12939617">turns on an enzyme called SIRT1</a>, which is thought to enhance the age-delaying benefits of diet and exercise. The Nature study showed resveratrol extended lifespan in a mouse, an animal far more complex than the simple organisms the compound had previously been tested on, such as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12939617">yeast</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15254550">worms and flies</a>.</p>
<p>Other studies of resveratrol in mice then showed benefits to <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7117/abs/nature05354.html">lifespan</a>, diseases such as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8985016">cancer</a> and <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v450/n7170/full/nature06261.html">diabetes</a>, and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15013856">inflammation</a>. So why has resveratrol not been made into a drug yet?</p>
<p>When it is taken as a pill, the liver <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15779070">quickly degrades the majority of resveratrol</a> before it can make it into the rest of the body. This means only a very small amount actually gets to other tissues where it could have an effect. So it would have to be given at very high doses. </p>
<p>But at doses where it can have an effect, resveratrol can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20935227">cause gut problems</a> such as diarrhoea. Despite this, small <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3782695/">clinical trials using resveratrol</a> in humans have shown some benefits to their <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21385509">metabolism</a>, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22520621">markers of inflammation</a>, and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26362286">Alzheimer’s disease</a>. </p>
<p>There has also been controversy as to how resveratrol actually works; in particular whether it activates SIRT1, the enzyme thought to delay the ageing process. </p>
<p>David Sinclair, an Australian based at Harvard Medical School, first showed resveratrol could “turn on” SIRT1 in 2003. With a series of papers in quick succession, Sinclair showed resveratrol extended lifespan in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12939617">yeast</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15254550">worms, flies</a>, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16461283">fish</a>, and <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7117/abs/nature05354.html">mice</a>. </p>
<p>Controversy struck when it was <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20061378">suggested</a> resveratrol was working through “off target” effects, meaning it was interacting with enzymes other than SIRT1. As a small molecule with a simple structure, it is likely resveratrol has non-specific interactions throughout the body, especially at higher doses. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142456/original/image-20161020-15081-1a8bx7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142456/original/image-20161020-15081-1a8bx7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142456/original/image-20161020-15081-1a8bx7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142456/original/image-20161020-15081-1a8bx7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142456/original/image-20161020-15081-1a8bx7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142456/original/image-20161020-15081-1a8bx7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142456/original/image-20161020-15081-1a8bx7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142456/original/image-20161020-15081-1a8bx7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Products containing resveratrol range from being highly pure, to pills containing mashed up grape skins with very little resveratrol.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/streamishmc/5547704360/in/photolist-qHpaYN-61HftU-fxFESK-5x3fQ1-bo2BFc-rsHUc-6zSN93-66kzUa-8HoMuq-7t6ZoF-akvYHo-69XFwT-nxgqkc-61mnoc-az1gPm-9sereb-8eRWdx-BWQB1S-v9gasS">Jason Tester Guerrilla Futures/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But then in 2012, these doubts were assuaged, when mice genetically engineered to be missing the SIRT1 gene were found to be <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3545644/">immune to the effects of resveratrol</a>. In 2013, it was found resveratrol <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23471411">binds to and activates SIRT1</a> in a very intricate manner. So that part is clear.</p>
<p>There are still uncertainties as to how specific it is; such as with the recent study involving women with PCOS. PCOS is a <a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/polycystic-ovarian-syndrome-pcos">common endocrine condition</a> that occurs when follicles in the ovary, which contain egg cells, swell up and the egg cell itself does not mature properly. The eggs contained in these cysts fail to be released at ovulation, which can cause infertility in women. </p>
<p>PCOS is thought to be caused by high levels of male steroid hormones known as androgens. Key risk factors for PCOS are metabolic problems such as high insulin levels, obesity, insulin resistance, and type II diabetes. Body weight reductions can therefore reduce PCOS risk.</p>
<p>Women suffering from PCOS experience irregular or no menstrual cycle, acne, hair growth and elevated levels of the male steroid hormone testosterone. In the recent study, resveratrol treatment lowered levels of testosterone, and its precursor DHEAS – two key steroid hormonal markers of PCOS. </p>
<p>But it’s actually not clear whether the testosterone reduction was due to a direct effect on the release of the hormone itself. This is because insulin, which at high levels can cause metabolic disease, was also reduced. As with other studies, it may be that resveratrol is actually improving metabolism, with reduced PCOS severity as a secondary side-effect. So there is still a lot we don’t know about the compound.</p>
<p>Should people want to go online and buy resveratrol, be aware it has not yet been approved as a drug by regulatory authorities. Also, plant-based resveratrol extracts such as Japanese knotweed contain a crude cocktail of compounds, some of which may be harmful, with only a small amount of resveratrol. Meanwhile, red grape skin pills are likely to contain vanishingly small quantities. </p>
<p>Stay tuned though: efforts to formulate resveratrol so greater proportions actually reach the rest of the body are underway.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67308/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lindsay Wu's lab receives funding from Cancer Institute NSW, the National Helath and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia, and MetroBiotech NSW Pty Ltd. He is a director of Metro Biotech NSW, Intravital Pty Ltd, and Liberty Biosecurity Pty Ltd, and is a shareholder in Intravital, EdenRoc Sciences, and Hydra Capital. </span></em></p>You would need to drink over a thousand bottles of red wine per day to get the amount of resveratrol - the compound said to have many health benefits - needed to even have an effect.Lindsay Wu, Senior Lecturer, School of Medical Sciences, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/672832016-10-20T10:34:22Z2016-10-20T10:34:22ZUsing monkeys for research is justified – it’s giving us treatments that would be otherwise impossible<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142338/original/image-20161019-20336-6y7qsd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One of Newcastle's macaque monkeys.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Newcastle University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37678796">debate about animal experiments</a> often seems to start from false premises. Unsurprisingly, the conclusions are then often flawed. Opponents claim that animals suffer <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/david-attenborough-primates-neuroscientists-cruel-brain-tests-a7230711.html">terrible cruelty</a>. The macaques I use for vital research are well looked after, by a lab full of dedicated people who love working with animals. A <a href="https://www.nc3rs.org.uk/welfare-non-human-primates">huge effort</a> goes into minimising suffering every day. This is not some optional extra, but an integral part of what we do and who we are.</p>
<p>Some claim animal experiments <a href="https://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org/why-we-do-it/alternatives-animal-testing">are not necessary</a>. But virtually every <a href="http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/why/health-timeline/">medical advance</a> of the last century depended on animals, often to provide the fundamental underpinning of understanding which paved the way to develop successful treatment. My own experience shows that using primates in research still has the potential to help us gain an understanding of how our own bodies work – and how we can repair them – that would be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/13/primate-research-is-crucial-if-we-are-to-find-cures-for-diseases-like-parkinsons?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">otherwise impossible</a>.</p>
<p>I am a neuroscientist, interested in the fundamental science of how the brain controls movement. We typically take the ability to move in a fluid, coordinated way for granted. Yet any parent will be familiar with the helplessness of a newborn baby. A large part of early childhood is dedicated to learning to move. As an adult, some people suffer damage to the brain’s pathways for movement, for example after a stroke. Suddenly, everyday tasks become a <a href="http://www.stroke.org/we-can-help/survivors/stroke-recovery/post-stroke-conditions">tiring, frustrating struggle</a>.</p>
<p>To understand how the brain controls our arms and hands, we need to look inside and measure how brain cells change their activity during movements, how they are connected together, and how they reconfigure after injury. We can make some progress on these issues using non-animal methods now at our disposal. In my own research group, we use magnetic brain stimulators to activate the brain of healthy volunteers, clever instrumented tasks, and recordings of <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hbm.22653/abstract">brain waves</a> from the scalp and <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0149029">muscle activity</a> from the skin over contracting muscles.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142342/original/image-20161019-20336-vi1pvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142342/original/image-20161019-20336-vi1pvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142342/original/image-20161019-20336-vi1pvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142342/original/image-20161019-20336-vi1pvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142342/original/image-20161019-20336-vi1pvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142342/original/image-20161019-20336-vi1pvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142342/original/image-20161019-20336-vi1pvk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Applying monkey research.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Newcastle University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But these methods all have their limitations. Single cells are individualists. Even cells right next to each other can be carrying totally different messages. When we record from the scalp, we average the signals from many millions of cells. It’s a bit like placing a microphone on the ceiling of an airport departure hall, and measuring the sound levels.</p>
<p>This can tell you something – what times of day the airport is busy, and when quiet – but we wouldn’t expect to get much insight into the conversations of individual passengers like this. And some aspects of the airport’s operations – those outside on the tarmac – would be missed. Equally, some brain centres are so deep beneath the skull that they don’t contribute to scalp recordings at all.</p>
<p>In my own work, we use a small number of macaques to gain this fine-grain understanding. Many pathways for movement control <a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev.neuro.31.060407.125547">are different</a> between primates such as humans and other animals such as rats. Only a primate model can give us information which is relevant to human diseases.</p>
<h2>State-of-the-art care</h2>
<p>To learn how these pathways are actually used to control movements, in <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.225169/abstract">some studies</a> we first teach the macaque to perform complex tasks with their hands or arm. Getting it right is rewarded with a treat (typically fruit or nuts, but chocolate or strawberry yoghurt also sometimes feature). Once they know what to do, we carry out a surgical implant to allow us to record from the brain using fine electrodes, with tips around the same size as single cells.</p>
<p>All surgery is done in a fully equipped operating theatre, with sophisticated anaesthetics and painkilling medication borrowed from state-of-the-art human care. Once the macaque has recovered, we can record from the brain cells while they do the trained task. An animal that is stressed or in pain would not willingly cooperate with the experiments. The animals seem to enjoy the daily interaction with the lab staff and show no distress.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142340/original/image-20161019-20308-fspagp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/142340/original/image-20161019-20308-fspagp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142340/original/image-20161019-20308-fspagp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142340/original/image-20161019-20308-fspagp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142340/original/image-20161019-20308-fspagp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142340/original/image-20161019-20308-fspagp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/142340/original/image-20161019-20308-fspagp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=519&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Neural pathways.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our studies are right at the crossroads of basic and clinical sciences. We are trying to understand fundamental brain circuits, and how they change in disease and recovery. Over the past ten years, we’ve shown that a primitive pathway linking brain to spinal cord can carry signals related to <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.215160/abstract">hand use</a>. That was a surprise, as until now it was assumed that the primate hand was controlled only by more sophisticated pathways that developed later in evolution.</p>
<p>We have shown that after damage to the newer pathways, such as after stroke, the older pathway <a href="http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/135/7/2277.long">is responsible</a> for much of the recovery of hand function which occurs in the following weeks and months. However, this recovery is unbalanced. Connections strengthen more to flexors, which close the hand, than to extensors, which open it. This is why stroke patients often end up with a strong grip, but cannot open the hand to let go.</p>
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<p>We have also shown that the older pathway can be powerfully activated by loud clicks. This led us to develop a <a href="http://jneurosci.org/content/36/42/10823">portable device</a> to deliver clicks to an earpiece, timed precisely relative to weak shocks to a muscle. When healthy subjects wear the device, connections from the primitive pathway can be strengthened or weakened depending on the relative timing of clicks and shocks. We are now testing whether this might help stroke patients strengthen their weak extensor muscles, and so regain better hand function. </p>
<p>Western society is facing a massive challenge of brain diseases, burgeoning because of our ageing population. Many of these brain systems are not the same in humans and rodents, and unless we can find alternatives then we are going to have to expand our use of primates to make progress.</p>
<p>In my opinion, we should not condemn large numbers of people to disability and dependence, but need to use all of the tools of modern science to discover and innovate the solutions. I am confident that the next 50 years will see wonderful progress in treatments for these terrible disorders and primate research will be central to this effort.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/67283/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Baker receives funding from Medical Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, National Centre for 3Rs and the Wellcome Trust.</span></em></p>Without research on primates, we wouldn’t be able to understand the human brain – or repair it.Stuart Baker, Professor of Movement Neuroscience, Newcastle UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/452462015-07-28T13:00:36Z2015-07-28T13:00:36ZAnimal research: varying standards are leading to bad science<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89805/original/image-20150727-7641-1hu3s45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How an animal is treated can actually affect research results.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/90500915@N05/8224204466/">Understanding Animal Research/Flickr </a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Scientific research sometimes requires the use of animals. It’s a fact. And as long as that is the case, we need to do everything in our power to minimise the distress for laboratory animals. This is not just for the sake of the animals, but also for the sake of science itself. We know that the quality of life of an animal can actually affect its physiology and, thereby, the research data.</p>
<p>But unfortunately, the standards of animal care vary greatly across countries and even across research institutes. The time has come to overhaul this system and replace it with globally enforced rules.</p>
<h2>Necessary evil</h2>
<p>There are a lot of misconceptions about animal research, for instance what it is used for. Across the EU and in a number of other countries (including India, Israel, Norway and New Zealand), it is actually <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/cosmetics/animal-testing/index_en.htm">illegal to use animals to test cosmetics</a> or household products. It is, however, allowed in medical research. </p>
<p>Animals are vital to medical research – they help us understand how drugs and genes function in our wonderfully complex bodies. By law, new compounds <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3123518/">must be tested on animals</a> before they can reach human trials. This is partly because humans are so genetically diverse and come from such a wide range of environments that we are not of much use in the initial phases of drug testing.</p>
<p>A lot of real breakthroughs in medical research would have been impossible without animals. Take the dogs in <a href="http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/emile-roux">Emile Roux</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/z9kj2hv">Louis Pasteur’s</a> research for example – they helped develop the human and canine rabies vaccines. Likewise, <a href="http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/people/frederickbanting.aspx">Frederick Banting and Charles Best’s</a> work on diabetic dogs led to the discovery of insulin, arguably one of the most significant discoveries of the 20th century. </p>
<p>In reality, larger animals such as dogs play an increasingly <a href="http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/animals/types-animals/">minor role</a> in animal research; more than 84% of studies are now conducted using mice, rats, and flies.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89807/original/image-20150727-7646-1lwrh31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/89807/original/image-20150727-7646-1lwrh31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89807/original/image-20150727-7646-1lwrh31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89807/original/image-20150727-7646-1lwrh31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89807/original/image-20150727-7646-1lwrh31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89807/original/image-20150727-7646-1lwrh31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/89807/original/image-20150727-7646-1lwrh31.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">An small proportion of animal experiments today use dogs or other larger animals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/90500915@N05/8223128721/">Understanding Animal Research/Flickr</a></span>
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<p>Thankfully animal research is highly policed in countries such as <a href="http://www.animalethics.org.au/">Australia</a>, the <a href="http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/portal/aphis/ourfocus/animalwelfare">USA</a>, and the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/animal-research-and-testing">UK</a>. Some institutes follow the rules and maintain the highest possible standards. For example, animal research in Australia is legally bound to follow the so-called “three R’s” – Reduction (of animal numbers), Refinement (to minimise distress) and Replacement (with non-animal models). They are also required to conduct ethical and humane research as described in <a href="http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines-publications/ea28">The Australian Code for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, there are some instances, even in highly policed countries, where research doesn’t follow the guidelines, with some institutes and labs slipping through the cracks. Bad practices are much less likely to happen in countries where governing bodies review research proposals and conduct regular inspections. But they <a href="https://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/eight-sanctioned-at-imperial-college-after-animal-testing-investigation/2016146.article">still happen</a>. </p>
<p>Guidelines and policing are completely up to individual governments, which can be uninformed or lacking in funding. So what about countries with less stringent rules, <a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/europe/2014/01/e.u.-may-punish-italy-stalemate-animal-research">such as Italy</a>? Animal-based scientific research is common in Italy. But researchers feel that the occasional threats of institute inspections will almost never result in a real inspection.</p>
<p>In an ideal world, researchers should undergo extensive training to develop a keen eye for any kind of distress and to guarantee a high quality of life of the animals in their charge. In many countries this training, if it exists, doesn’t actually occur when new researchers join an institute. Animal facilities vary wildly in quality, and as such, both the quality of life of the animals, as well as the data itself, is compromised. </p>
<h2>Bad animal practices, bad science?</h2>
<p>Research has shown that data at the behavioural, cellular, and biochemical levels can be completely different depending on whether rats had access to enrichments (such as toys to play with, tunnels to run through, and things to climb). This can affect things like gene expression, hormones and are cell-signalling molecules called cytokines.</p>
<p>One study showed that mice born in an enriched environment <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9087407">developed more neurons</a> in part of the brain. Another suggested that the progression of neurological disorders <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16924259">changed with environmental variation</a>.</p>
<p>Monitoring environmental enrichments would both markedly improve the lives of research animals and <a href="http://www.altex.ch/resources/AltexSupl070073.pdf">also preserve data quality</a>. Without such procedures, conflicting animal data is wasting both time and research funds. International collaborations often experience this, and research can drag on for years trying to sift through the muddy waters to find solid data.</p>
<p>Animal research in industry is actually easier to regulate because parent companies can set rules for all subdivisions to follow, regardless of the host country. Plus the number of labs is typically small enough to enable strict monitoring. </p>
<p>But what about academia – why haven’t we already done something about this? In some cases researchers are simply not trained properly. In others, overworked and often underpaid scientists are just trying to survive in an increasingly competitive research environment. Time wasted trying to change the established setup could mean loss of data, loss of papers, and thus compromised job security.</p>
<p>But we need to do something, and the <a href="http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-insane-peta-publicity-stunts.php">shock tactics</a> of animal rights activists are certainly not the best way of tackling this. Instead, changes need to be made at the level of government and science policy. There needs to be better training, and better monitoring of every single facility with international guidelines that are actually enforced. In an ideal world, researchers would come together with regulatory bodies and government representatives, agree on global standards, and stick to them.</p>
<p>With time and a lot of determination, it may be possible to achieve worldwide collaboration on such a project, and both the animals and the data will be better for it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45246/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Emily Wright does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Varying animal standards across the globe is leading to unnecessary suffering as well as conflicting research results.Lauren Emily Wright, Postdoctoral Researcher in Mitochondrial Biology and Metabolism, University of PaduaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/440522015-06-30T05:16:18Z2015-06-30T05:16:18ZMen and women could use different cells to process pain<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86750/original/image-20150629-9056-1goa2uq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If only I could shut off my my microglia right now</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hryckowian/2656927275/">Todd/Flickr</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We have known for some time that there are <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2745644/">sex differences when it comes to experiencing pain</a>, with women showing a higher sensitivity to painful events compared to men. While we don’t really understand why this is, it seems likely that <a href="https://theconversation.com/do-men-have-a-higher-threshold-for-pain-or-are-they-just-a-bit-emotionally-repressed-25681">both biological and psycho-social factors are involved</a>. However, <a href="http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nn.4053.html">a new study</a> published in Nature Neuroscience suggests that there may be a sex difference in the immune cells involved in the processing of pain signals. The results show that it is time to stop ignoring sex differences in research.</p>
<p>The researchers looked at the immune responses of male and female mice, and found that different immune cells seemed to signal pain. They found that for male mice, microglia, which serve to defend the brain and spinal cord, were important in signalling pain. However, this did not seem to be the case for female mice. Instead white blood cells known as T cells seemed to signal pain.</p>
<p>While we need to be cautious about translating these results to humans, the authors conclude by asking whether we should start thinking about different ways of managing chronic pain in men and women. For example, could drugs be developed that target these different pain pathways, and used in a sex-specific way.</p>
<h2>Stop ignoring sex in research</h2>
<p>The study adds to a <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/policy-nih-to-balance-sex-in-cell-and-animal-studies-1.15195">growing body of evidence</a> showing that sex differences are relevant for health. We know that there are important differences in how males and females respond across a range of health conditions. In an era of personalised pain medicine, this raises general questions as to what works best, and for whom. </p>
<p>There is a lot at stake. If a pain response is found in males, it does not automatically mean it will be found in females, and vice versa. Similarly, if a treatment is found to be less effective in one sex, it does not mean it is ineffective for all. Looking at it in this context, have some approaches that might have worked for females, been dismissed too early if just tested on males? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86751/original/image-20150629-9056-1htnvng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86751/original/image-20150629-9056-1htnvng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86751/original/image-20150629-9056-1htnvng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86751/original/image-20150629-9056-1htnvng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86751/original/image-20150629-9056-1htnvng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86751/original/image-20150629-9056-1htnvng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86751/original/image-20150629-9056-1htnvng.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Researchers are underestimating the need to look at sex differences in animal research.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lab_mouse_mg_3140.jpg">Rama/wikimedia commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Part of the problem is how we do clinical-health research. Historically, women were systematically <a href="http://www.acog.org/Resources-And-Publications/Committee-Opinions/Committee-on-Ethics/Research-Involving-Women">excluded from clinical trials</a>. Although researchers are getting better at recruiting both men and women, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/apr/30/fda-clinical-trials-gender-gap-epa-nih-institute-of-medicine-cardiovascular-disease">progress is slow</a>. Sometimes these differences are actually viewed as “<a href="http://srmo.sagepub.com/view/encyc-of-research-design/n279.xml">nuisance variables</a>” to be statistically controlled for. </p>
<p>Unless you go looking for sex differences, how will you know whether they exist and are important? We need to encourage a change in research practice, which means designing studies to allow this to happen. In the US, the main health funding agency, the NIH, <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/policy-nih-to-balance-sex-in-cell-and-animal-studies-1.15195">now requires researchers</a> to consider the potential effect of sex/gender within their studies. Some medical journals, such as The Lancet and The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, include instructions to authors to consider, and report, sex differences. Interestingly, it is not yet standard practice to see sex differences considered in systematic reviews of treatment efficacy studies for pain.</p>
<p>Since there may be differences in male and female health, we can no longer generalise or ignore sex. Unless there is a good reason not to, then males and females should be recruited into research, and sex differences considered. </p>
<p>The study is an important wake-up call as we are still some way to go before we see such comparisons become a mainstream part of clinical-health research investigation and reporting practice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44052/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edmund Keogh receives research funding from Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare (UK) Limited, and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. He is currently co-chair of the IASP special interest group on sex, gender and pain.</span></em></p>Clinical health research should stop ignoring important sex differences.Edmund Keogh, Reader in Psychology, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/413692015-05-19T20:05:51Z2015-05-19T20:05:51ZClimbing the tree: the case for chimpanzee ‘personhood’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/81634/original/image-20150514-28583-1n7nd25.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Should primates such as chimpanzees be given rights normally reserved for humans?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/potbic/5425519549/in/photolist-9grcWv-6mSSp3-7UMhkQ-4QnzpV-nopKU9-pX4v1G-7Q8TJs-bL77bc-4EKmMo-4EF6LH-jnmDe3-jnkCNf-jnidjv-kARRhs-p3qrCx-kAQAqq-8eJdgM-kAP6Ka-azspWA-dUZed3-5wQfKZ-ezCmxc-ezCfWF-ezFkuj-ezC66r-ezF8i3-ezBSXi-ezFbVL-94SsNp-dUZDh5-RC7rA-7CFs1y-83QL84-kAPesz-9gukro-9grcUe-e5jJ5q-6M7NUi-qcpo4u-njZREG-62yEZg-rJHv1j-rJRwhH-9jzFAX-jmebcs-na7yPf-iosAQK-8zBpSg-ygmUW-4AetBE">phil/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Hercules and Leo don’t know it, but a decision about their future has made history. In granting an <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/21/chimpanzees-granted-legal-persons-status-unlawful-imprisonment">order to show cause</a> on whether Hercules and Leo (who just happen to be chimpanzees) are illegally imprisoned, a Supreme Court judge in Manhattan has kept open the possibility that some nonhuman animals will be granted legal rights under common law. </p>
<p>The plaintiffs are currently used for biomedical research at New York’s Stony Brook University. What the lawyers running the case hope to show is that Hercules and Leo shouldn’t be treated as if they were just things or property, but should instead be given the status of persons. </p>
<p>Showing that any animal has what is needed for legal personhood is a difficult task. But chimpanzees seem promising candidates as there is a wealth of scientific evidence showing they possess complex cognitive abilities, like self-awareness and autonomy. </p>
<p>The order to show cause on the issue of <a href="http://www.lectlaw.com/def/h001.htm">habeas corpus</a> is the first step in a process which <a href="http://www.nonhumanrightsproject.org/steve-wise/">Steven Wise</a> and the Nonhuman Rights Project (<a href="http://www.nonhumanrightsproject.org/">NhRP</a>) hope will secure Hercules and Leo’s bodily liberty and integrity. </p>
<p>If the court were to find in their favour, the chimpanzees would no longer be kept for research and could be moved to a sanctuary in Florida.</p>
<p>NhRP was founded by Wise in 2007 and after years of research it filed its first cases back in December 2013. To date it has brought three cases on behalf of chimpanzees held in captivity in the state of New York. But NhRP is ambitious, aiming to run as many cases on behalf of animals as it can fund.</p>
<p>If it can find suitable plaintiffs, NhPR hopes to mount cases for the personhood of elephants, whales and dolphins too.</p>
<h2>Different perspectives on personhood for animals</h2>
<p>Reactions to treating nonhuman animals as persons vary widely. Some people think it is <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/04/court-denies-legal-personhood-of-chimpanzees">ridiculous</a> to even entertain the idea. Persons have to be human – end of story. </p>
<p>For philosophers, this is not very satisfactory. It tries to answer the question of whether animals can be persons by asserting a definition rather than offering an argument. It gets more interesting when people give reasons to support their view. </p>
<p>One approach to defending the idea that only humans are persons involves saying that persons need to participate in society. Society is founded on reciprocity; you can’t just take rights without also assuming responsibilities. And animals like chimpanzees can’t take on responsibilities, so they can’t have rights. </p>
<p>Another tactic is to suggest that there is a whole heap of criteria that one has to meet to be a person. And although humans meet these criteria, nonhuman animals don’t. These criteria could include things like being rational, self-aware, autonomous, having culture and being able to communicate. </p>
<p>The problem is neither of these kinds of arguments stand up to interrogation. There are lots of humans who get the benefit of rights without living up to reciprocal responsibilities, such as young children and people with certain physical or mental impairments. </p>
<p>There are similar difficulties when using a criteria based approach. Just as there are many humans who don’t meet certain criteria for personhood, there are some nonhuman animals <a href="http://news.discovery.com/animals/zoo-animals/chimpanzees-self-awareness-110504.htm">who do</a>. </p>
<p>This is known as the “problem of marginal cases”. Taking a consistent approach would mean treating some animals, but not all humans, as worthy of moral consideration. </p>
<p>There are other people who are sympathetic towards giving greater ethical consideration to animals, but who don’t think using personhood is the best approach. Utilitarians, for example, worry about the capacity to suffer. If a chimpanzee – or for that matter a dog, cat or rat – can experience pleasure and pain, then they matter regardless of whether they meet a test for personhood.</p>
<h2>Implications of nonhuman animals as persons</h2>
<p>If Wise and the NhRP win their case it will be a significant precedent and other cases will surely follow. Chimpanzees in jurisdictions where successful cases are mounted will no longer be permitted to be used in research or kept in zoos and circuses. </p>
<p>However, less charismatic animals – ones that don’t look like us or where it is not in our interests to grant them rights – won’t be so fortunate. Historically, there is a deep inconsistency in how we treat different types of animals that is not easily overturned, even in the face of compelling legal and ethical arguments. </p>
<p>The case of Hercules and Leo also has connections to Australia. Wise was inspired to practice animal law back in the 1980s after reading the work of Australian philosopher, <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/peter-singer-2863">Peter Singer</a>. The hearing of the case in New York was actually interrupted due to Wise’s long-standing commitment to visit Australia and deliver the 2015 Voiceless Animal Law Lecture Series. </p>
<p>The hearing is now scheduled for 10:30am Wednesday May 27 at the New York County Supreme Court. Those interested in seeking rights for nonhuman animals keenly await the outcome.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41369/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Johnson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The question of furnishing non-human animals with rights normally reserves for humans is more complex than it might seem.Jane Johnson, Research officer, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/330072014-11-21T10:28:59Z2014-11-21T10:28:59ZThe unknown crocodiles<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64596/original/j4g8v3s4-1415983268.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Crocodiles keep their own secrets.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/908814138/">Tambako</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Just a few years ago, crocodilians – crocodiles, alligators and their less-known relatives – were mostly thought of as slow, lazy, and outright stupid animals. You may have thought something like that yourself the last time you were in a zoo and saw them lying still for hours, making people wonder if they were alive or made of plastic.</p>
<p>But people who worked with crocodilians – zoologists, breeders, animal trainers, tribal hunters – knew that these animals were capable of amazing things. And recently this knowledge has finally found support in the form of scientific publications.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64605/original/bbnh6vxy-1415984389.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64605/original/bbnh6vxy-1415984389.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64605/original/bbnh6vxy-1415984389.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64605/original/bbnh6vxy-1415984389.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64605/original/bbnh6vxy-1415984389.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64605/original/bbnh6vxy-1415984389.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64605/original/bbnh6vxy-1415984389.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64605/original/bbnh6vxy-1415984389.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mugger crocodile using sticks to lure egrets.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vladimir Dinets</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Now we know that crocodilians have a weird <a href="http://www.asihcopeiaonline.org/doi/abs/10.1643/CE-12-125">communication system</a> composed of chemical signals, various calls, infrasound vibrations too low for us to hear, and body language. They can take care of their babies for more than a year, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/eth.12047/abstract;jsessionid=97321A8A418CD4F3CD71713374AABA60.f02t04?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false">feeding them</a>, protecting them, even putting them together in <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/eth.12047/abstract;jsessionid=97321A8A418CD4F3CD71713374AABA60.f02t04?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false">crèches</a> – like daycare centers protected in turn by many parents. They can <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jzo.12052/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false">disperse seeds</a> of rainforest trees. They can bond with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocho_(crocodile)">certain people</a> and play with them. They can <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03949370.2013.858276#.VEN2dfldWSo">use little sticks</a> to lure egrets looking for nesting material. And they can <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03949370.2014.915432#.VEN2jPldWSo">hunt in teams</a>, each animal playing the role best suited for its size and agility; for example, large adult alligators can drive fish into shallows where small, agile youngsters lie in ambush.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64603/original/9fbgwp5n-1415984167.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64603/original/9fbgwp5n-1415984167.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64603/original/9fbgwp5n-1415984167.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64603/original/9fbgwp5n-1415984167.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64603/original/9fbgwp5n-1415984167.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64603/original/9fbgwp5n-1415984167.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64603/original/9fbgwp5n-1415984167.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64603/original/9fbgwp5n-1415984167.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mugger crocodiles swimming in a circle to drive fish into a bait ball. One cuts across the circle to snatch fish.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vladimir Dinets</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How they’ve maintained their mystique</h2>
<p>Why are these amazing facts only coming to light now? There are many reasons.</p>
<p>First, scientists <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v423/n6940/full/423575a.html">don’t study natural history</a> as much as they used to. To get your research <a href="http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-williams-wildlife-coburn-wastebook-20141107-story.html">financed</a> nowadays, it seems you need to be testing a fancy theory, or using a new technology, or contributing to some major cause such as finding cure for cancer, stopping global warming, or slowing down the ongoing mass extinction. You don’t get paid for just <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biu032">watching animals</a>, no matter how cool the stuff is that you’re discovering. </p>
<p>Of course, this is a fundamentally wrong approach; it is impeding not just the science, but also our ability to fix major problems such as the mass extinction, because we no longer have the basic data on which our fancy theories should be based.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64598/original/vp2vn8yf-1415983633.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64598/original/vp2vn8yf-1415983633.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64598/original/vp2vn8yf-1415983633.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64598/original/vp2vn8yf-1415983633.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64598/original/vp2vn8yf-1415983633.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64598/original/vp2vn8yf-1415983633.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64598/original/vp2vn8yf-1415983633.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64598/original/vp2vn8yf-1415983633.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">American aligators dancing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vladimir Dinets</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, crocodilian behavior is extremely difficult to see, especially in the wild. These are nocturnal animals living in swamps and muddy rivers, mostly in the tropics. Few people dare work there at night, and even fewer know how to observe nocturnal animals without disturbing them. These things aren’t taught in most universities. You can do your research in a zoo, but it’s not the same because many forms of behavior can only be seen in wild animals.</p>
<p>Third, time doesn’t flow for crocodilians like it does for us mammals. We are warm-blooded, so <a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.nutr.19.1.247">we need a lot of energy</a> to keep our body temperature constant, and that makes us constantly hungry and active. Compared to us, crocodilians are the Taoist sages of the animal world. They lie back, <a href="http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/2460833?uid=3739560&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21104365198141">conserve energy</a> and silently absorb information about their surroundings. Eventually the moment comes when they decide it’s time for action, and when they do, they can make Jurassic Park’s velociraptors look like plucked chickens.</p>
<p>But to see this action, you have to spend weeks, months, sometimes years feeding mosquitoes in the swamps. Some Nile crocodiles, for example, hunt only once a year, during the wildebeest migration. Few scientists can afford to commit to a project where you get data once a year, if at all. Even if you somehow manage to get a grant for this, you’ll run out of money long before having something to show for it.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64600/original/5ymcdtd3-1415983997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64600/original/5ymcdtd3-1415983997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64600/original/5ymcdtd3-1415983997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64600/original/5ymcdtd3-1415983997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64600/original/5ymcdtd3-1415983997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64600/original/5ymcdtd3-1415983997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64600/original/5ymcdtd3-1415983997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64600/original/5ymcdtd3-1415983997.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">I may be elusive but there’s plenty to discover about me and my brethren….</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://pixabay.com/en/crocodile-alligator-predator-389090/">Mika Mamy</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Embrace the challenge</h2>
<p>The only way you can do it is by thinking out of the box. I write <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Songs-Adventure-Crocodiles-Alligators/dp/1611458935/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413707841&sr=8-1&keywords=dragon+songs">books</a> and sell my photos to finance my research. I use Facebook to survey people who don’t usually publish their observations in scientific journals: hunters, tour guides, zoo directors, amateur naturalists. I’ve learned to be as comfortable in a tropical swamp at night as I am in my apartment on a winter evening with the fireplace on and the coffee brewing.</p>
<p>Studying crocodilians is no longer a challenge for me – it’s pure fun. And the best part of it is that there’s still a lot to be discovered and understood. We’ve just scratched the surface.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33007/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vladimir Dinets does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Slow, lazy, stupid? It’s time to update your impression of the crocodilians. These animals are up to amazing things that we’re only beginning to observe and recognize.Vladimir Dinets, Research Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of TennesseeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/290752014-07-11T09:53:08Z2014-07-11T09:53:08ZFewer animals being used for research but testing is still vital to finding cures<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53558/original/7z9g23k5-1405009886.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A small sacrifice.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/121483302@N02/13924249304/sizes/l">GlobalPanorama</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The number of animals used in scientific research in the UK fell by 0.4% in 2013, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statistics-of-scientific-procedures-on-living-animals-great-britain-2013">according to figures</a> released by the Home Office. Scientists continue to work hard to reduce the numbers of animals used for medical research and the fall reverses the recent trend of an increase over the past decade – mainly due to a rise in the use of genetically modified mice and smaller species like zebra fish. </p>
<p>The vast majority of the 4m animals used in research (98%) is made up of mice, rats, birds and fish. If you listened to animal rights groups you might be forgiven for thinking that most of the experiments involved dogs, cats and primates, but in fact, these species accounted for less than 0.2% of the total number of animals used.</p>
<p>I understand the importance of using animals in science. In my lab, <a href="http://www.instituteforwomenshealth.ucl.ac.uk/maternal-fetal-medicine/genetransfer">our research is directed</a> to finding new treatments for early-onset genetic diseases using gene therapy. We use mouse models of these conditions to test how well these treatments work in a living organism. More specifically, our aim is to cure these diseases early in development by treating the patient in utero or as a newborn. In the past year, for example, our current work has shown that delivering appropriate genetic information through a neonatal injection can cure mice with type II neuronpathic Gaucher disease, an intractable and lethal genetic disease that currently has no treatment. Most of the affected children die before two years of age. This success with therapy in animal models provides hope that this treatment can move into the clinic and potentially treat sick children.</p>
<p>The length of time it takes for new medicines and treatments to get from bench to bedside means it can sometimes be difficult to see how research done in 2013 will help us further down the line, but here is a flavour of some of the bigger breakthroughs of last year, made possible thanks to research using animals:</p>
<p>An <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/grafted-ovaries-lead-to-successful-pregnancy-1.13845">ovary stimulation technique</a> involving removing and stimulating the ovaries to produce eggs in the lab, and originally pioneered in mice, allowed a previously infertile woman to give birth.</p>
<p>An <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24993155">experimental gene therapy</a> successfully treated dogs with haemophilia A, a condition that naturally affects around 6,000 men (and very occasionally women) in the UK. This treatment will hopefully move to clinical trials. </p>
<p>Scientists <a href="http://news.discovery.com/tech/biotechnology/first-human-liver-stem-cells-130705.htm">successfully grew</a> tiny “liver buds” using human stem cells. When transplanted into mice with liver failure, the liver buds delayed the death of the animal and even began to take on a range of liver functions such as protein secretion. After transplantation, the liver buds attached themselves to nearby blood vessels and continued to grow.</p>
<p>The newly released animal research numbers will be encouraging for the government and their commitment to the 3Rs – replacement, reduction and refinement of animals in research. Earlier this year, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/277942/bis-14-589-working-to-reduce-the-use-of_animals-in-research.pdf">the government announced</a> that it would increase the funding of the National Centre for the Reduction, Refinement and Replacement of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) from the £5.3m in 2010-11 to more than £8m in 2014-15.</p>
<p>Conducting animal research is not a choice that any researcher or institution takes lightly. The law rightly states that it can only be carried out where there are no viable non-animal alternatives. Nonetheless, while people continue to suffer or die from diseases we have a moral duty to continue such research. Things are improving; cancer <a href="http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-info/cancerstats/survival/all-cancers-combined/#Trends">ten-year survival rates</a> have risen from 25% to 50% over the past 30 years, but we must continue to develop new and better medicines and diagnostic tools to help people overcome such diseases. We cannot become complacent but we should not shy away from the potential benefits of ongoing animal research. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29075/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Suzy Buckley received advice about the article from advocacy group, Understanding Animal Research</span></em></p>The number of animals used in scientific research in the UK fell by 0.4% in 2013, according to figures released by the Home Office. Scientists continue to work hard to reduce the numbers of animals used…Suzy Buckley, Lecturer, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/278052014-07-11T06:17:53Z2014-07-11T06:17:53ZTighter rules mean Brazil is now kicking goals on animal welfare<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53598/original/67t5f8rq-1405050976.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C9%2C2026%2C1517&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Brazil's cattle herd is the world's second-biggest - and welfare standards are on the up.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABezerros_de_IATF.jpg">Zeloneto/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>While Brazil’s footballers have failed spectacularly to live up to expectations, there are other areas where the country is quietly exceeding them. Perhaps surprisingly, Brazil’s rapidly improving animal welfare standards put several more developed countries to shame.</p>
<p>When we think of Brazil and animals, we might picture huge cattle herds and the resulting <a href="http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_destruction.html">deforestation of the Amazon</a>. Yet Brazil is ahead of other livestock-producing countries such as Australia, at least as far as animal welfare legislation and regulation are concerned. This is a pretty damning indictment of Australia.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text.jsp?file_id=218270">Brazil’s Federal Constitution of 1988</a> dedicates an entire chapter to the protection of the country’s fauna and flora, and <a href="http://www.animallaw.info/nonus/articles/ovbrazil.htm">establishes the legal standards for environmental protection</a>. Ten years after the Constitution was written, the Environmental Crimes Law was enacted to criminalise environmental damage, and prevent cruelty to domestic animals and wildlife.</p>
<p>The Constitution says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>All have the right to an ecologically balanced environment. [sic] which is an asset of common use and essential to a healthy quality of life, and both the Government and the community shall have the duty to defend and preserve it for present and future generations… In order to ensure the effectiveness of this right, it is incumbent upon the Government to: … protect the fauna and the flora, with prohibition, in the manner prescribed by law, of all practices which represent a risk to their ecological function, cause the extinction of species or subject animals to cruelty. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Contrast that with the <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/Constitution">Australian Constitution</a>, which does not mention flora and fauna or the environment (although <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-australias-biodiversity-be-written-into-the-constitution-23986">perhaps it should</a>).</p>
<p>Based on its constitution, Brazil’s Supreme Court has banned cruel practices such as cock fighting and the <a href="http://www.animallaw.info/nonus/articles/ovbrazil.htm">Oxen Festival</a>, a tradition that involved crowds chasing an ox through the streets while beating him with sticks, knives, whips and stones.</p>
<h2>Livestock welfare</h2>
<p>Brazil has the second-largest cattle herd in the world (behind India), of 187 million animals. About 600,000 cattle are <a href="http://www.wellard.com.au/home/global/americas.html">exported</a> each year, mainly to Venezuela (92%) and Lebanon (5%). Like Australia, Brazil’s live export industry has imposed cruelty and suffering on animals, most infamously in 2012 on board the <a href="http://www.beefcentral.com/live-export/animal-groups-ramp-up-anti-live-export-campaigns">Gracia Del Mar</a>, where more than 2,700 cattle died in the heat after the vessel had been refused permission to unload in several ports in the Middle East.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.econwelfare.eu/publications/EconWelfareD1.2Report_update_Nov2010.pdf">European Commission report</a> ranked Australia and Brazil in the same category for livestock welfare: both slightly below European Union standards. But unlike Australia, all major livestock animals in Brazil are covered by national legislation, whereas Australia has voluntary national codes of practice, and only legislates for livestock welfare at state and territory level. </p>
<p>Brazil’s agriculture ministry works closely with the <a href="http://www.worldanimalprotection.org.au">World Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals</a> (WSPCA), to provide <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/i1907e/i1907e00.pdf">animal welfare training for veterinarians</a> and to improve slaughter methods. A WSPCA <a href="http://www.uncsd2012.org/content/documents/Sao%20Marcelo%20Cattle_FINAL.PDF">case study</a> shows how animal welfare is increasing Brazil’s beef cattle productivity without the need to increase the land area used.</p>
<p>The government also provides <a href="http://www.hsi.org/news/press_releases/2014/05/brazilian-government-expands-animal-welfare-credit-052014.html">R1.7 billion (A$815 million) in loans</a> to improve welfare, for example by phasing out the use of intensive confinement systems in factory farming. </p>
<h2>In the lab</h2>
<p>Brazil is rapidly making ground in terms of animal welfare in the lab. Since 2009, all aspects of animal experimentation have been regulated by federal law, and all educational centres or labs that use animals now have to have an ethics committee. In contrast, Australia has a <a href="http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines/publications/ea28">Code for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes</a> which also requires ethics committees, but much of what is recommended in the code is voluntary. </p>
<p>In 2011, the Brazilian government set up the <a href="http://www.altex.ch/resources/raltex_2011_4_370_376_News2.pdf">Brazilian Center for the Validation of Alternative Methods</a>, which looks for alternative, non-animal research methods. In doing this it has joined the ranks of the <a href="http://www.alttox.org/ttrc/us/validation-centers.html">United States</a>, <a href="http://www.eurotox.com/ecvam">Europe</a>, <a href="http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/?objectid=62A650A4-DD4B-D0A8-C26C7AE0A57F82E8">Canada, Japan and South Korea</a>, all of which have similar government-sponsored centres. Australia doesn’t.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, the state of São Paulo <a href="http://www.hsi.org/news/press_releases/2014/01/saopaulo-cosmetics-testing-ban-012414.html">banned</a> animal testing for cosmetics. More recently, Brazil’s Congress <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/monica-engebretson/brazil-to-end-most-animal_b_5452371.html">voted</a> to end animal testing for most cosmetics, in favour of internationally approved non-animal methods.</p>
<p>In Australia such prohibitions do not exist, although it is claimed the practice has been largely discontinued. But only the Greens have drafted legislation to <a href="http://www.thescavenger.net/social-justice-to-all/social-justice-for-animals/945-is-this-the-end-for-animal-testing-for-cosmetics.html">formally ban animal cosmetics testing</a>. That bill is waiting to be presented to Parliament.</p>
<h2>Good intentions</h2>
<p>One could argue that legislation and regulation are only useful if they are enforced. Does animal welfare legislation in Brazil lead to greater welfare than the mostly voluntary codes in Australia? We don’t know for sure.</p>
<p>Of course, Brazil is likely to face many challenges in translating good legal intentions into practice. The existence of a range of <a href="http://brazil.angloinfo.com/family/pets/animal-organisations/">animal protection and welfare organisations</a> indicates that animal welfare in Brazil has some way to go. </p>
<p>However, setting legal standards is always better than leaving animal welfare to industry self-regulation. Other countries, which prefer to let the market handle things, would do well to take note.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27805/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Monika Merkes is a member of the committee of management of Humane Research Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Buttrose is on the management committee of Humane Research Australia.</span></em></p>While Brazil’s footballers have failed spectacularly to live up to expectations, there are other areas where the country is quietly exceeding them. Perhaps surprisingly, Brazil’s rapidly improving animal…Monika Merkes, Honorary Associate, Australian Institute for Primary Care & Ageing, La Trobe UniversityRob Buttrose, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/271692014-07-01T19:11:20Z2014-07-01T19:11:20ZWhy Australia needs to catch up on animal research transparency<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/52394/original/6xmq3ks8-1403830254.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australia uses over seven million of the around 115 million animals used for scientific research each year worldwide.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ikayama/62058845/sizes/o/">Ikayama/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The UK government recently <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-to-reduce-the-use-of-animals-in-research-delivery-plan">concluded a six-week consultation</a> on discarding a section of its law on animal experimentation in the interest of openness. Australia doesn’t have such restrictive laws but we’re even less transparent when it comes to animal use in research.</p>
<p>Under the current provisions of section 24 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA), the UK Home Office cannot release confidential information – even when the provider has no objection to disclosure. </p>
<p>The government suggests section 24 be discarded while protecting the names of places, people, and intellectual property. Along with this attempt to become more open and transparent, it also wants to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-to-reduce-the-use-of-animals-in-research-delivery-plan">reduce the use of animals in scientific procedures</a>.</p>
<h2>Changing public attitudes</h2>
<p>Public attitudes about animal research are changing. Some people feel we have no right to <a href="http://teacherweb.com/TX/TomballMemorialHighSchool/Campese/Animal_Experimentation_Is_Unethical.pdf">subject sentient beings to painful and lethal procedures</a> to advance knowledge or find cures for human diseases. Others have come to the conclusion that animal models <a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g3387">fail to predict human responses</a>. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.humaneresearch.org.au/interview/media-release-australians-say-no-to-animal-experiments">2013 opinion poll</a> commissioned by <a href="http://www.humaneresearch.org.au/">Humane Research Australia</a>, for instance, found 57% of respondents were not even aware animals are used in experimental research in Australia. And 64% didn’t believe humans have the moral right to experiment on animals. </p>
<p>In the United Kingdom, a <a href="http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/publications/1512/Views-on-the-use-of-animals-in-scientific-research.aspx">2012 Ipsos MORI poll</a> found 37% of respondents objected to animal research. Young people aged between 15 and 24 years were most likely to oppose it (46%) because of the importance they place on animal welfare. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/52398/original/bk9fmpd8-1403830603.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/52398/original/bk9fmpd8-1403830603.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52398/original/bk9fmpd8-1403830603.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52398/original/bk9fmpd8-1403830603.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52398/original/bk9fmpd8-1403830603.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52398/original/bk9fmpd8-1403830603.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52398/original/bk9fmpd8-1403830603.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some people feel we have no right to subject sentient beings to painful and lethal procedures to advance knowledge or find cures for human diseases.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gedankenstuecke/233634794">Bastian Greshake/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And a <a href="https://aerzte-gegen-tierversuche.de/infos/eu/259">2009 survey in six European countries</a> found 84% of respondents agreed or mostly agreed that new guidelines should ban all animal experiments that cause severe pain and suffering. These and <a href="http://ozsheba.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/tide-of-opinion-turns-against-the-use-of-animals-in-research/">other surveys</a> show many people are opposed to using laboratory animals. This proportion has increased over the last decade. </p>
<p>People opposed to animal research (like us) have an obvious interest in more disclosure. They believe that if the public were adequately informed, there would be more pressure to stop or minimise it. But so arguably do those who see a need for such research and are concerned about the respect for animal welfare in laboratories. </p>
<p>Greater <a href="http://speakingofresearch.com/2014/05/14/the-concordat-on-openness-on-animal-research-arrives/">transparency is also supported</a> by significant voices on the research side. More information, it’s argued, would dispel some of the inaccuracies about research coming from animal advocates. It would also help educate the public about what are seen by many in the biomedical community as significant benefits to humans.</p>
<p>But while it may be that all sides of the animal research debate desire transparency, Australia remains behind, making minimal effort towards openness, better communication, greater accountability and more public access to information.</p>
<h2>What should be public</h2>
<p>As in the United Kingdom, animal research in Australia is highly regulated. The National Health and Medical Research Council’s <a href="http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines/publications/ea28">Code of Practice for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes</a> requires collection and collation of data on the details of research proposals. </p>
<p>The care and welfare of animals in the laboratory must also be monitored and recorded. </p>
<p>But even though we know such information exists, or should exist, we can’t access it. None of it is public and, in our experience, attempts to obtain it by direct requests to institutions and government departments mostly fail.</p>
<p>A straightforward way to increase transparency then would be for more of this material to be made publicly available. The following information would give the public a clear picture of animal experiments and how and why they’re done.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/52396/original/sjzkxv8z-1403830530.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/52396/original/sjzkxv8z-1403830530.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52396/original/sjzkxv8z-1403830530.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52396/original/sjzkxv8z-1403830530.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52396/original/sjzkxv8z-1403830530.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52396/original/sjzkxv8z-1403830530.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52396/original/sjzkxv8z-1403830530.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Details about the living environment of animals are part of the information that should be made publicly available.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/malcubed/2282421082">Jonathan Ehrich/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ul>
<li><p>Summaries of the number of animals used and killed in research, the species, the impact of procedures and the purpose. These statistics (called the animal use returns) are currently published sporadically and inconsistently by the states. </p></li>
<li><p>Minutes from or summaries of ethics committee meetings and related documents (project proposals, the reasons animal use is required, the effort made to consider alternatives, the impact on the animals, and ethical justification in terms of benefits and costs).</p></li>
<li><p>Annual animal ethics committee reports, which include details about efforts to replace and reduce animal use, as well as what’s being done to decrease the severity of procedures applied to those animals still being used.</p></li>
<li><p>Details of all animal research funded by the NHMRC (up to the current year), as well as details of any publications.</p></li>
<li><p>Details about the living environment of animals, such as any enrichment of their environment, opportunities to express species-specific behaviours, and whether individual animals are kept isolated from other animals.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>There are confidentiality and intellectual property issues related to some of these documents, but there’s no reason why these can’t be dealt with as the UK government intends to. If necessary, the simple and common method of blacking out names and other identifying information would suffice.</p>
<p>The next steps are a national reporting scheme of animal use returns, and publishing plain-language summaries of animal research projects. Along with a number of European countries, the UK has being doing exactly this for the last three years. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/non-technical-summaries-granted-during-2013">summaries</a> provide a clear picture of what’s done to animals in the laboratory and why, but don’t name researchers or institutions. In Australia, these could be readily compiled from project proposals submitted to animal ethics committees.</p>
<h2>How to reduce animal use</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/52401/original/zw5jbrwq-1403830715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/52401/original/zw5jbrwq-1403830715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52401/original/zw5jbrwq-1403830715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52401/original/zw5jbrwq-1403830715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52401/original/zw5jbrwq-1403830715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52401/original/zw5jbrwq-1403830715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52401/original/zw5jbrwq-1403830715.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some people have come to the conclusion that animal models fail to predict human responses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gedankenstuecke/233631032">Bastian Greshake/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The number of animals used for scientific research is enormous: about 115 million each year worldwide and over seven million in Australia. </p>
<p>Some countries are taking positive steps towards reducing this number. The United Kingdom is, again, leading the way with a policy of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/ensuring-research-and-testing-using-animals-is-safe-and-reasonable">eliminating testing of household products</a> on animals. It has also a stated commitment to reducing the numbers of animals used in scientific experiments.</p>
<p>In contrast, the only major initiative in this area in Australia has been a <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/03/19/crikey-clarifier-will-we-ban-animal-testing-for-cosmetics">Green’s private member’s bill</a> earlier this year to ban the largely discontinued practice of animal testing for cosmetics. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/exclusive-secrecy-over-animal-testing-ended-with-public-right-to-know-9307954.html">Transparency, and the accountability</a> that goes with it, is key. Greater public scrutiny will make it harder for institutions to approve animal research that doesn’t save human lives. It will also reduce the high rate of duplicated research which is another unfortunate by-product of our lack of openness. </p>
<p>Australia has a long way to go in giving laboratory animals a better deal – lifting the veil of secrecy should be the first step.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27169/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Monika Merkes is on the Committee of Management of Humane Research Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Buttrose is on the Committee of Management of Humane Research Australia.</span></em></p>The UK government recently concluded a six-week consultation on discarding a section of its law on animal experimentation in the interest of openness. Australia doesn’t have such restrictive laws but we’re…Monika Merkes, Honorary Associate, Australian Institute for Primary Care & Ageing, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/217562014-01-15T03:45:28Z2014-01-15T03:45:28ZWhen is an animal not an ‘animal’? Research ethics draws the line<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39010/original/pxd67f73-1389663109.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C104%2C1022%2C654&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Octopuses are the only non-vertebrates granted 'animal' status in the area of animal research ethics. Is this an arbitrary distinction?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Saspotato</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many people are surprised to find that insects, jellyfish and sea urchins are animals. Animals are generally thought of as medium-sized four-legged creatures with two sets of eyes and ears — those with features similar to ourselves.</p>
<p>While the kingdom <a href="http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=202423">Animalia</a> spans from <a href="http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/tapir/">tapirs</a> to <a href="http://serc.carleton.edu/microbelife/topics/tardigrade/index.html">tardigrades</a>, the latter is absent from zoological exhibitions and beloved <a href="http://www.graemebase.com/publish/index.html">Graeme Base</a> picture books. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6H0E77TdYnY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">… but you can learn all about tardigrades here.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although this omission may be excused in children’s literature, a similar distinction appears to be made in serious scientific decisions. This is the field of animal research ethics.</p>
<h2>A research ‘animal’</h2>
<p>Zoologists tend to agree that the animal kingdom includes vertebrates (animals with a backbone) and invertebrates (those without), but the <a href="http://143.119.201.4/maintop/view/inforce/act+123+1985+cd+0+N">NSW Animal Research Act</a> defines “animal” in the following way: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>animal means a vertebrate animal, and includes a mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian and fish, but does not include a human being.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Humans may be excused from this definition on pragmatic grounds, as separate acts on <a href="http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/health-ethics/human-research-ethics">human ethics</a> in research are in place. </p>
<p>However, invertebrate animals are wholly excluded. There is no other act covering these “non-animals”. As far as scientific research is concerned, no backbone means no protection.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39013/original/yzczrdmp-1389664378.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39013/original/yzczrdmp-1389664378.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39013/original/yzczrdmp-1389664378.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39013/original/yzczrdmp-1389664378.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39013/original/yzczrdmp-1389664378.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39013/original/yzczrdmp-1389664378.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39013/original/yzczrdmp-1389664378.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Under current research ethics guidelines, crabs are not considered ‘animals’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/FMJ Shooter</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>One exception</h2>
<p>At a national level there is one exception. The National Health and Medical Research Council (<a href="http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/">NHMRC</a>) in Australia <a href="http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/publications/attachments/ea16.pdf">defines animals</a> as: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>any live non-human vertebrate, that is, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, encompassing domestic animals, purpose-bred animals, livestock, wildlife, and also <a href="http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Cephalopoda/">cephalopods</a> such as octopus and squid.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Cephalopods were introduced to the guidelines in 2004, but the justification for this inclusion has not been made clear.</p>
<h2>Well-being, stress, distress and pain</h2>
<p>So, what is the significant difference between a vertebrate (plus cephalopod) and invertebrate animal? Why the recent addition of cephalopods? And how does a species become entitled to ethical protection? </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines/publications/ea28">Australian Code of Practice</a> leaves some clues. They focus on four aspects that should be considered in animal research:</p>
<ol>
<li>well-being</li>
<li>stress</li>
<li>distress</li>
<li>pain.</li>
</ol>
<p>As these are all subjective states of affairs, it is difficult to assess whether or not an animal experiences them. We can usually identify these things in other humans, as they act in a way that <em>we</em> would when distressed ourselves – but animals adapted to different lifestyles may behave differently to us. </p>
<p>Tourists watching a captive elephant <a href="http://www.bornfree.org.uk/campaigns/zoo-check/captive-wildlife-issues/abnormal-behaviours/">swaying</a> may think it is being playful, when in fact the animal is distressed. </p>
<p>Even in closely related animals, such as chimpanzees, some <a href="http://scan.oxfordjournals.org/content/1/3/221.full">behavioural displays</a> are difficult for us to interpret. If this is the case, what hope do we have for identifying a stressed-out jellyfish?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39011/original/jk4qqqfy-1389663528.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39011/original/jk4qqqfy-1389663528.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39011/original/jk4qqqfy-1389663528.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39011/original/jk4qqqfy-1389663528.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39011/original/jk4qqqfy-1389663528.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39011/original/jk4qqqfy-1389663528.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39011/original/jk4qqqfy-1389663528.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chilled out or stressed out?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/Cody Hanson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A physiological account</h2>
<p>Because of these limitations, it appears that the NHMRC have resorted to a physical account of pain and distress. According to the code: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>All vertebrates possess the anatomical and neurophysiological components for the reception, transmission, central processing and memory of painful stimuli. Some of these features are also present in some higher-order invertebrates, such as octopus and squid. This, together with analyses of animal behaviour, supports the view that an animal may have subjective experiences of pain similar to those of humans.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This indicates that the 2004 cephalopod revision was done in light of research concerning the complexity of their nervous system. But it is possible for there to be other invertebrate animals with components for the reception, transmission, processing, and memory of pain. The code does not deny this possibility, but it also does not acknowledge it.</p>
<p>In the same way that some animals have different behavioural responses to pain, it is possible that invertebrates have different underlying physiologies related to pain transmission, reception and memory.</p>
<p>Not only has there not been enough research conducted on the matter, but due to the private nature of pain and well-being, it may in principle be impossible to conduct.</p>
<h2>Where to draw the line</h2>
<p>So where to draw the line on animal research? Should every animal, down to the tiniest insect, be carefully considered before used in a scientific manner? This question boils down to how humans differentially value different species.</p>
<p>Most of us don’t blink an eyelid when insects fly in to our windscreens on the road, but shudder at the thought of hitting a possum or wallaby. Would this kind of reasoning change if we were to find better evidence of pain and distress in invertebrates?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39012/original/5f6v5x75-1389663800.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39012/original/5f6v5x75-1389663800.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39012/original/5f6v5x75-1389663800.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39012/original/5f6v5x75-1389663800.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39012/original/5f6v5x75-1389663800.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39012/original/5f6v5x75-1389663800.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/39012/original/5f6v5x75-1389663800.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What if we were to find that each of these insects could experience pain?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/wwworks</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To decide what animals to include in ethical decision making, we need to get to the bottom of these kinds of intuitions and decide whether they are justified.</p>
<p>Although the NHMRC believe that justification lies with differences in the experience of pain and distress, others place value on animals for <a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-animal/">different reasons</a> such as intelligence, consciousness and self-consciousness. </p>
<p>It may be these reasons that permit unregulated invertebrate use in scientific research to continue without public protest. It may also be why the consideration that these creatures could suffer pain and discomfort — despite differing underlying physiologies — remains inhibited.</p>
<p>A friend who taught ethics classes at primary school last year asked children why some animals should be protected over others. One of the resounding responses was “because they are cute”. </p>
<p>While this may seem childish and charming at face value, think about the way some people beat at harmless spiders with a shoe: would they behave the same way if they did not have their “creepy crawly” appearance?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/21756/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Lynch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many people are surprised to find that insects, jellyfish and sea urchins are animals. Animals are generally thought of as medium-sized four-legged creatures with two sets of eyes and ears — those with…Kate Lynch, Doctoral Student in Philosophy of Biology / Genetics, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/194212013-11-07T14:54:56Z2013-11-07T14:54:56ZAnimal-based research is vital for advancing biomedical science<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/34687/original/xys3fhhj-1383825207.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Better than the garden pond?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In his recent article on The Conversation, Andrew Knight <a href="https://theconversation.com/animals-in-research-do-the-costs-outweigh-the-benefits-16390">argues</a> that “the overwhelming majority of invasive animal experiments do not pass the cost-benefit test required by regulations and expected by society”. This claim is based on his reviews of the scientific literature, a 2011 report on non-human primate research in the UK and alleged bias among ethics committees. The implication would seem to be that society should drastically reduce the amount of animal-based research scientists are permitted to carry out.</p>
<p>Knight states that the best available evidence regarding the efficacy of animal research is found in systematic reviews, especially his <a href="http://www.benthamdirect.org/pages/content.php?RRCT/2008/00000003/00000002/0002RRCT.sgm">2007 review</a>. It would take quite some space to refute his paper in detail, so we will instead address a couple of the more substantial problems. </p>
<p>The largest flaw is probably Knight’s apparent misunderstanding of the purpose of most biomedical research – to discover knowledge rather than necessarily generating immediate clinical results. He repeatedly argues, citing papers of varying quality, that only a small proportion of animal experiments result in advancements in healthcare. But the majority of experiments using animals seek to answer questions regarding physiological processes, some of which may lead to clinical advances, rather than try to treat disease. The findings from these experiments underlie the large body of knowledge that is required for the design of experiments that directly address a clinical issue. </p>
<p>Knight also seems to underestimate the value of emerging technologies, such as genetically altered animal models. This new but important component of animal research only warrants a paragraph: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Genetic modification of animal models … is being attempted, to make them more closely model humans. However, as well as being technically very difficult to achieve, such modification may not allow clear conclusions due to a large variety of factors, including those reflecting the intrinsic complexity of living organisms, such as the variable redundancy of some metabolic pathways between species. Furthermore, the animal welfare burdens incurred during the creation and utilisation of genetically modified animals are particularly high.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While certainly technically challenging, these new techniques are leading to great advances not touched upon by Knight. One of his <a href="http://link.springer.com/protocol/10.1385%2F1-59745-165-7%3A163">citations</a> in this quote is actually is an excellent account of the emerging importance of transgenic animal models for biomedical research. It notes the limitations, but also concludes that they are highly useful. Many other such advances have improved the quality of animal models, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/fake-memory-implanted-in-mice-with-a-beam-of-light-16292">optogenetics</a>, which allows researchers to precisely manipulate activity in nerve cells, providing exciting new avenues for research into many disorders including <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00441-013-1651-5">psychiatric conditions</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/34693/original/vj9cz768-1383828123.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/34693/original/vj9cz768-1383828123.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34693/original/vj9cz768-1383828123.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34693/original/vj9cz768-1383828123.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34693/original/vj9cz768-1383828123.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34693/original/vj9cz768-1383828123.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/34693/original/vj9cz768-1383828123.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Posing for the camera from a lab.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">rick-in-rio</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The general issue with using systematic reviews to determine the value of animal research is that they are tackling far too large a topic. Animal research involves the use of dozens of species, hundreds of techniques and addresses thousands of hypotheses. Attempting to treat the topic in a unified manner is akin to asking whether computer models are worthwhile research tools – too broad a question to usefully consider in the context of all biomedical research. Instead, scientists should (and do) ask whether animal models are useful in answering specific questions or characterising specific biological systems, such as a <a href="http://ilarjournal.oxfordjournals.org/content/48/4/339.short">review</a> of non-human primate (NHPs) of Parkinson’s Disease.</p>
<p>Knight also refers to the 2011 <a href="http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/web/FILES/Reviews/review-research-using-nhps.pdf">Bateson report</a> on the use of NHPs in research, quoting:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In most cases […] little direct evidence was available of actual medical benefit in the form of changes in clinical practice or new treatments.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>He neglects, however, to continue the quote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…This dearth might have been because no link with medicine existed. However, the time that elapsed between the research and the review may have been too short for a move to practical applications to be seen.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This highlights an important issue with all research – the delay between fundamental investigation and practical application may be many years or decades. Expecting scientists to be able to convert basic research into treatments overnight is naïve, whether one is considering animal models or any other technique.</p>
<p>The Bateson Report actually presents a far more balanced view of animal research than Knight’s selective quote suggests. In reality, it offers both criticism and praise for work undertaken on NHPs, <a href="http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/web/FILES/Reviews/review-research-using-nhps-response.pdf">providing suggestions</a> for improvements that research funding bodies are taking on board. </p>
<p>Similar suggestions are found in other reports assessing the value of biomedical research on animals, including the 2006 <a href="http://www.ethik.uzh.ch/ethikkommission/veranstaltungen2/Downloads/Weatherall-Report.pdf">Weatherall report</a>, 2005 <a href="http://www.nuffieldbioethics.org/sites/default/files/The%20ethics%20of%20research%20involving%20animals%20-%20full%20report.pdf">Nuffield Council on Bioethics report</a> and 2003 <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/119027/cost-benefit-assessment.pdf">Animal Procedures Committee</a>report. The latter notes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The case that animal experiments can produce scientifically valid results is clear, strong and sustainable, but cannot be construed as an absolute case that every potential use of animals is scientifically valid and fail safe.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>No research methodology is fail-safe. By its very nature, research involves a degree of uncertainty, and research involving animals is no exception. Despite Knight’s grandiose claim that “the overwhelming majority of invasive animal experiments do not pass the cost-benefit test required by regulations and expected by society”, the reports and studies we have referred to clearly state that animal models hold substantial value. </p>
<p>Along with most of those arguing in opposition to animal research, Knight has failed to provide any alternative to the myriad applications for living organisms in biomedical research. Replacement of animal models is a valuable process, and indeed, when it is possible to do so, it is an ethical and legal requirement in the UK. But it is a very gradual process. It is possible that some day in the future, it will be realistic to end all animal-based research but for now it remains an essential tool, along with non-animal methods, for advancing biomedical science.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/19421/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laurie Pycroft founded Pro-Test (<a href="http://www.pro-test.org.uk/">http://www.pro-test.org.uk/</a>), a grass-roots campaign group supporting biomedical research on animals, in 2006. Since the conclusion of Pro-Test’s work in 2011 he has continued animal research advocacy, as well as engaging in public discussion of human cognition enhancement.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Bolam is Programme Leader at the Medical Research Council Anatomical Neuropharmacology Unit within The University of Oxford. He is on the editorial board of on several journals, an advisory editor of Trends in Neurosciences and Associate Editor of the European Journal of Neuroscience. He serves on the Neuroscience and Mental Health Board of the Medical Research Council. He was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2011 and Fellow of the British Pharmacology Society in 2012.</span></em></p>In his recent article on The Conversation, Andrew Knight argues that “the overwhelming majority of invasive animal experiments do not pass the cost-benefit test required by regulations and expected by…Laurie Pycroft, PhD candidate, University of OxfordPaul Bolam, Professor of Anatomical Neuropharmacology, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/189862013-10-28T19:20:47Z2013-10-28T19:20:47ZAre animals as smart, or as dumb, as we think they are?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33431/original/4cybrrjh-1382406862.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Measuring animal intelligence is extremely complex, yet some animals may be smarter than we think. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rader of Gin</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Does my dog only think of eating, sleeping and chasing squirrels? Does my girlfriend’s cat really have the capacity to <a href="http://theoatmeal.com/misc/frame/cat_kill">plot my accidental death</a>? Are cows just walking hamburgers and pigeons intent on world domination? </p>
<p>Opinions vary on the answers to these questions. But where do we get our opinions on animal intelligence?</p>
<p>Our understanding of, and feelings for and against different species seem to be linked to our <a href="http://bit.ly/1gQ3ttq">cultural and personal prejudices</a>. We have compassion for those closely related to us. Mammals are viewed smarter than birds and reptiles, while we think of less related species, like insects, as non-thinking machines.</p>
<p>The reality is intelligence is a complex concept, difficult to define and hard not to base around our own abilities. </p>
<p>Measuring intelligence is even more difficult. With humans we can converse or give them a written test. But the lack of language and opposable thumbs makes it extra tricky to measure intelligence in animals.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SNuZ4OE6vCk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Koko the gorilla has been taught to communicate via sign language.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So how are researchers changing their approach to measuring animal intelligence? Today, animal cognition scientists avoid viewing humans as the apex of intellect and look at animals not as dumb furry humans, but as intelligent species that view the world in fundamentally different ways.</p>
<p>Tool-use is a form of intelligence long thought to be exclusive to humans. Examined in many species, only few have succeeded. When elephants were first tested, experimenters gave them a stick and placed food just out of reach. In this setup, elephants failed. Elephants knew where the food was placed and could grab the stick, but would not use it to obtain the food. </p>
<p>Later, researchers realised a species bias in the experimental design. Grabbing the stick with its trunk inhibited the elephant’s ability to smell and feel; senses that elephants rely on much more than vision. So researchers tried <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0023251">something different</a>. They added a box to the experiment. The result? Elephants kicked the box until able to stand on it to reach the food.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_5_DuZ8WuMM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Crows have adapted to their urban surroundings.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A less widely studied cognitive capacity is empathy. For a very long time experiments seemed to show that non-human primates were selfish. Monkeys were allowed to either take food or push food to a companion. Monkeys would more often take food for themselves suggesting general selfishness. But perhaps the monkeys didn’t understand the experimental setup. </p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/105/36/13685.long">recent study</a> monkeys learnt that two different types of tokens would exchange for food: one type would gain food for them only while the other token type provided food for both monkeys. This set-up proved successful. Monkeys preferred tokens that rewarded both individuals.</p>
<p>These are two simple examples among many where animals seemed void of a certain type of intelligence. But in reality they only failed solving a task the way we expected a human would. Negative findings tell us only so much. By designing a test for the specific species in mind, researchers were able to reveal the animals’ true cognitive capacities.</p>
<p>As tough as it is to define intelligence and to measure animals’ cognitive capacities, research has provided ample evidence that animals across many different species have complex intelligence. </p>
<p>Squirrels <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1439-0310.2008.01554.x/abstract">fake hiding seeds</a> when they know others are watching. Crows can <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/106/25/10370.full.pdf">construct hooks</a> out of wire to use as tools. Chimpanzees have <a href="http://langint.pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ai/intra_data/SanaInoue/Inoue2007.pdf">better short-term memories</a> than humans. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33438/original/d3fhzjz8-1382412471.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33438/original/d3fhzjz8-1382412471.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33438/original/d3fhzjz8-1382412471.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33438/original/d3fhzjz8-1382412471.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33438/original/d3fhzjz8-1382412471.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33438/original/d3fhzjz8-1382412471.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33438/original/d3fhzjz8-1382412471.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33438/original/d3fhzjz8-1382412471.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deep in thought. Chimps have a better short term memory than humans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dmitri Fedortchenko</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bumblebees can <a href="http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.1086/657042?uid=3737536&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21102791785913">solve some problems</a> faster than computers. Rats <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/334/6061/1427">feel empathy</a> for their species companions. Honey bees can <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20118310">recognise faces</a>. <a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/fetchObject.action?representation=PDF&uri=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.0060202">Magpies</a> are self-aware. </p>
<p>And <em>Caenorhabditis elegans</em>, a worm with only 302 brain cells, can <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20335372">learn and remember</a>.</p>
<p>For some, hearing that animals are intelligent is enthralling. But for many, losing their exclusivity on intelligence is discomforting. </p>
<p>Several studies have shown that we rate animals’ intelligence much lower <a href="http://www.animal-science.org/content/76/8/2072.short">if</a> and <a href="http://www2.psy.uq.edu.au/%7Euqbbast1/Loughnan%20et%20al%20Appetite%202010.pdf">when</a> we eat them, a form of denial that may help us feel less guilty. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33439/original/992b89pk-1382413508.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/33439/original/992b89pk-1382413508.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33439/original/992b89pk-1382413508.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33439/original/992b89pk-1382413508.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33439/original/992b89pk-1382413508.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33439/original/992b89pk-1382413508.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/33439/original/992b89pk-1382413508.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=587&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Our consumption of animals affects our perception of their intelligence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Boston Public Library</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even harder to take for some is that humans may not be as smart as we once thought. <a href="http://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/en/research/adaptive-behavior-and-cognition/publications/books/simple-heuristics">More</a> and <a href="http://gladwell.com/blink/">more</a> research is showing that the seemingly complicated logic and intellect we routinely use to solve problems relies heavily on short cuts known as heuristics. Put simply, this comes very close to what we consider instincts.</p>
<p>All this means is that we should remind ourselves that we are animals living in a world with other animals. All species are of course different from each other. But we’re really not so dissimilar. What we once thought was restricted to humans is showing up not only in animals like us, but also in organisms much different from us. </p>
<p>From our closest relatives, like other primates and mammals, to animals far from us on the evolutionary tree, like birds and insects, all biological organisms have some level of intelligence. To be successful, they all need to solve the problems they face in life. </p>
<p>Finding out how they solve these problems will take clever problem solving of our own. And along with it, a change in perspective.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/18986/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Clint J Perry has received funding from the Endeavour Awards Fellowship in Sydney and is about to take up a Marie Curie Fellowship.</span></em></p>Does my dog only think of eating, sleeping and chasing squirrels? Does my girlfriend’s cat really have the capacity to plot my accidental death? Are cows just walking hamburgers and pigeons intent on world…CP, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Biological Sciences , Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/123132013-02-22T00:47:39Z2013-02-22T00:47:39ZHow deep is your cheep? Why songbirds sing their size<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/20459/original/vcs8g6rw-1361334865.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bigger male purple-crowned fairy-wrens can sing their 'trill song' at a lower pitch than smaller males.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michelle Hall</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The melodious beauty and elaborate complexity of <a href="http://esciencenews.com/articles/2012/12/18/birdsong.bluster.may.dupe.strange.females.it.wont.fool.partners">birdsong</a> has long inspired poets, writers, and musicians – as well as behavioural ecologists! </p>
<p>But besides appreciating the aesthetics of birdsong, we are interested in why birds sing, and what they “say” with their songs.</p>
<p>Our research was conducted by myself and my colleagues <a href="http://monash.edu/science/about/schools/biological-sciences/staff/peters/index.html">Dr Anne Peters</a> (Monash University) and <a href="http://www.uea.ac.uk/biological-sciences/People/Research+Associate/Sjouke+Kingma">Dr Sjouke Kingma</a> (University of East Anglia, UK), and <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0056717">published today</a> in PLOS ONE.</p>
<p>We found that, although the pitch of the lowest frequencies male <a href="http://www.australianwildlife.org/Wildlife-and-Ecosystems/Wildlife-Profiles/Birds/Purple-crowned-Fairy-wren.aspx">purple-crowned fairy-wrens</a> could produce depended on their size, the average pitch of all a male’s different song types did not depend on his body size.</p>
<p>So, what are some of the important questions we attempted to answer by conducting this study?</p>
<h2>Fighting and flirting</h2>
<p>The most common reason birds sing is to compete with rivals and <a href="https://theconversation.com/birds-and-boasting-honest-when-mating-dishonest-when-dating-11520">attract mates</a>. Much of the complexity of song seems designed to intimidate or appeal. </p>
<p>This often happens by way of revealing something about the singer to the listener. The quality of a bird’s singing can reveal its age to listeners because birds have to learn their songs, and their performance often improves with practice. Youngsters that haven’t yet perfected their art are not as intimidating to rivals, or as attractive to prospective mates.</p>
<p>There are sound theoretical reasons for believing that song can also reveal the size of the singer.</p>
<h2>Deep voices, honest signals</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.studyphysics.ca/newnotes/20/unit03_mechanicalwaves/chp141516_waves/lesson49.htm">physical properties of sound</a> (low-pitched sounds have long wavelengths) mean that only big bodies can produce low-pitched sounds (think of the deep rumbles of elephants versus the high-pitched squeaks of mice). </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Male purple-crowned fairy-wrens sing trill songs in response to predator calls.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michelle Hall</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In principle, this makes a deep voice an unbluffable sign of a big body. This kind of honest signal is known as an <a href="http://clas.mq.edu.au/animal_communication/index.html">“index” signal</a> because it is intrinsically linked to some property of the signaller, and can’t be faked. </p>
<p>Low-pitched calls are a textbook example of an index signal of body size, and there is <a href="http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org/content/11/2/169.full">good evidence</a> from frogs that the calls of bigger males are lower-pitched than those of smaller males. </p>
<p>In the case of frogs, listening males know to steer clear of calls that are lower-pitched than their own, while females might find the lower-pitched calls more attractive. </p>
<p>So what about birds?</p>
<h2>Bigger birds sing lower pitched songs</h2>
<p>Surprisingly, until our recent study, there was no evidence that the pitch of birdsong revealed the singer’s size to rivals and potential mates. </p>
<p>Our work demonstrates that bigger male fairy-wrens sing certain song types in their repertoire at a lower pitch than smaller males. Such songs therefore provide listeners with reliable information about the size of the singer.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F80003237"></iframe>
<p><em>(Example of a trill song. Audio credit to Michelle Hall, University of Melbourne)</em></p>
<p>Why is this the first time a correlation between pitch and size has been shown in a songbird, when it has been shown in so many frog species?</p>
<p>Frog calls are simple, and it is the very complexity of birdsong that has caused the relationship between size and song frequency predicted by theory to be overlooked. Birds can have large repertoires of song types that span a wide frequency range, and potentially communicate many messages.</p>
<p>Some birds may not use song to signal their size, while others may signal their size along with many other messages in their songs. </p>
<p>The key to our study was that we focused on the low end of the full frequency range, where body size is expected to impose a constraint. </p>
<p>Needless to say, what we discovered was music to our ears. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/12313/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Hall does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The melodious beauty and elaborate complexity of birdsong has long inspired poets, writers, and musicians – as well as behavioural ecologists! But besides appreciating the aesthetics of birdsong, we are…Michelle Hall, Research Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.