Global harmonization in the care and use of laboratory animals for the space life science research]

Space researches are supported with the international space agencies, NASA and NASDA. Animal experiments on the space life science must conform to the NIH policies and the NASA guide for the care and use of laboratory animals. The goal of the NIH policies is to promote the humane care of animals used biomedical and behavioral research, teaching, and testing. In each institute, the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) plays an important role in conformity with NIH policies. The IACUC is charged with developing, recommending and monitoring NIH/NASA (ARC and KSC) policies, guides and rules relating to animal acquisition, care and use. In ARC and KSC, investigators will be responsible only for activities directly related to the conduct of their animal experiments. Even if researchers have protocols of the space science in Japan, the animal experiment should be carried out under the global harmonized conditions in accordance with NIH policies and NASA guides.     

Defending the use of animals to research human disease

Recent activities by animal rights sympathizers in the UK at Shoreham, Brighton, Brightlingsea and Dover, campaigning against live transport of domestic animals, have again brought the issue of animal rights onto the front pages of newspapers in the UK. Television news bulletins have continued to show almost nightly scenes of violent protest as the police have struggled to keep demonstrators from disrupting the legal export of livestock. This is the public face of a continuing campaign to establish rights for animals that has gained strength sincethe early 1970s. It includes an on-going campaign against medical scientists who use animals in their research.     

Issues related to the use of animals in biocontainment research facilities

The expansion and improvement of high-containment animal facilities has been driven by terrorism, economics, the emergence of new pathogens, and the re-emergence of other pathogens in new areas. Working with highly infectious viral agents requires a team of trained scientists, laboratory technicians, veterinarians, animal care staff, biological safety officers, engineers, and physical plant staff to ensure safety, biocontainment, and the animals' well being, while providing essential scientific data. The challenges of working with infectious disease agents in high levels of containment, and some solutions to these challenges, are described from an animal care point of view.     

Attitudes in China toward the use of animals in laboratory research

Public support is a strong impetus for the adoption of alternatives to laboratory animals. It is therefore important to find out what a society thinks about ethical animal use. In the case of China, a useful line of enquiry was to survey Chinese people's as their country is renowned for the deplorable conditions under which animals are kept. This report concerns an investigation into the attitudes of Chinese university students toward the use of animals in laboratory research. The survey revealed a moderate concern amongst students; for example, they agreed that the use of animals for testing cosmetics and household products is unnecessary and should be stopped, and disagreed that humans have the right to use animals as they see fit. This finding is very encouraging. Further research is needed, in order to understand Chinese views about the justification of using animals in research.     

Fish research and the institutional animal care and use committee

Fish represent the most diverse group of animals in the vertebrate phylum. The more than 25,000 species are characterized by an array of anatomical, biochemical, physiological, and behavioral repertoires. For this reason, it is difficult to develop a comprehensive guideline on the care and use of fishes. Institutional animal care and use committees (IACUCs) meet the challenge of ensuring adequate fish welfare using guidelines (Animal Welfare Act [AWA] and Public Health Service [PHS] Policy and their guides) derived mainly from the care and use of mammalian species, which may not be optimal for regulating fish research, teaching, or extension activities. Discussion focuses on various issues that often confront IACUCs in meeting regulatory requirements while assuring proper fish welfare. Issues include questions concerning animal tracking and inventory, utilization of fisheries bycatch, facility inspections in remote locations, and euthanasia. Common sense solutions appropriate for field and laboratory fish activities are suggested, which should help investigators, IACUCs, and regulatory agencies meet PHS and AWA objectives.     

The use of animals in live-tissue trauma training and military medical research

Uncontrolled hemorrhage is the most common preventable cause of death for soldiers wounded in combat. In live-tissue trauma training (LTTT), animals (mostly goats and pigs) are used to train physicians and paramedical personnel in how to treat severe traumatic injuries, including severe blood loss. Military personnel insist that such realistic training is necessary and has to date saved countless lives of soldiers. Animal rights groups, however, argue that the practice is inhumane and should be replaced with alternative methods. In this essay, the author explains how and why animals are used for LTTT and in military medical research (MMR), as well as why he feels that the continued use of animals for LTTT and MMR is justified. The author hopes to encourage wider discussion of this topic within the scientific, defense and animal welfare circles, leading to further refinements in the welfare and protection of animals used for these important, though often controversial, purposes.