Transcript Animal Research - PEER

1
Animal Research
Kristey Reed and Andrew Shuff
Partnership for Environmental Education and Rural Health
Texas A&M University
http://peer.tamu.edu
1
Animals in Research
1
What is research?
Scholarly or scientific investigation or inquiry
1
Why do we use
animals in research?
• In order for medical researchers to learn
how to treat a disease, they have to study
it in a living organism.
• Animals are physiologically similar to
humans and are therefore good models
when humans can’t be used.
1
How do we choose which
animals to study?
That depends on:
• which disease or body system is being
studied
• which animals are most similar to humans
• what animals have been used in past
research on the topic in question
1
Our Responsibility
• The ethical treatment of animals means that
those animals used in testing should be
treated well
• Regulations are monitored by Institutional
Animal Care and Use Committees
• This includes
– Giving the animals a comfortable living
environment
– Minimizing discomfort from testing
– Humanely euthanizing animals
1
1
Family
Friends
Pets
1
Do any of you have pets?
Have you gone with your parents to the vet
clinic?
What does a vet do when you take your pet
in for their yearly appointment?
They perform a physical exam and
administer vaccinations.
1
The first thing a vet may do is
listen to your animal’s heart and
lungs.
1
1
Heart Transplant
• Dr. Norman Shumway completed a heart
transplant in a dog in 1959.
• Eight years later Dr. Christiaan Branard
performed the first heart transplant in
humans.
• In 1968 Shumway completed the first
human transplant in the United States.
1
PDA Surgery research
• A PDA is a heart defect found
when an artery that is supposed
to close at birth, stays open
• About 5 out of every 1000 puppies are
born with this, while up to 2 out of every
10,000 humans are
• Research into better surgical options for
puppies has greatly advanced human
treatments
1
Next, the veterinarian takes the
animal’s temperature.
1
1
Vaccinations
• Animals have been used to develop
multiple vaccines for use in humans
– Anthrax: sheep (1880’s)
– Cholera: various animals (1885)
– Rabies: various animals (1885)
– Insulin for Diabetes: dogs (1922)
– Leprosy: armadillos (1950s)
1
After the heart rate, respiratory rate and
temperature are measured, the animal is
examined from head to toe.
1
1
Eyes – cataract surgery
• Each year near 2.7 million Americans have
cataract surgery.
• It’s estimated that 80% of those over 65
have cataracts.
• Animal research has improved the surgery
techniques in both humans and animals.
Make sure the animal’s skin looks
healthy, muscles are strong, bones and
joints are in good shape, etc.
1
1
1
Hip Replacement
• Because of animal research both people
and animals needing hip replacements
have been able to walk again.
• Over 100,000
people receive hip
replacements each
year.
1
The last thing the vet may do is
give the vaccinations.
1
Vaccinations
The history of vaccines:
The first attempt to protect against
infectious disease by vaccination was
done by Edward Jenner with the cowpox
virus in the1790s.
In the 1800s Pasteur (who also developed
Pasteurization) developed vaccines
against rabies and anthrax.
1
By the 1900s five vaccines were being
used against smallpox, cholera, typhoid
fever, rabies and the plague.
In the 1970s smallpox was eradicated by
global vaccination
Today, vaccines are still being developed
using new technologies such as genetic
engineering.
1
How are vaccines made?
Vaccines were originally made by injecting
viruses into chicken eggs, allowing them to
multiply and then removing them and
deactivating them to produce a vaccine.
Some of the vaccines today are still made
this way:
-Flu vaccines
1
Other methods of vaccine
production include:
- Tissue culture: viruses are injected into
cells (preferably monkey kidney cells)
where they are allowed to grow and are
then removed.
- Reverse genetics: a method of tissue
culture vaccine production that needs
fewer plasmids to introduce the virus
into the kidney cells. Faster!!
1
Vaccine Efficacy:
Nobody wants to have a
vaccine given to them,
their family or their pets
without knowing if its
effective or safe.
1
There is only one way to ensure that a
vaccine is safe and that is to test it. The best
way to do this is through animal research.
1
Animal Research
• Animal research has already advanced
vaccines, surgery, and treatment in both
humans and animals
• Continued animal research may someday
help cure cancer, heart disease, and
diabetes.