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The “Three R’s” and the Shifting Framework of the Animal Research Debate

The publication of The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique is one of the milestones in the evolution of the use of animals in research. With their book, Russell and Burch shifted the framework of the debate about animal research from a philosophic one to a scientific one. For example, they began each chapter with a quotation from Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, noting that, “Few people have been more concerned than he was with the welfare of experimental animals, or more active in furthering the progress of human experimental technique.”  Following their example, both research scientists and animal protectionists began placing the discussion of animal use in science within the context of the evolution of scientific practices.

Russell and Burch began with the fact that animals are essential tools in research and asked how we can be more sensitive to their needs and how we should express our ethical concerns. They also united science and ethics with their book, stating, “the humanest possible treatment of experimental animals, far from being an obstacle, is actually a prerequisite for successful animal experiments.”  This perspective was in line with evolving perspectives following World War II about human subjects in research, which sought to fulfill ethical responsibility while being certain that the knowledge gained be statistically valid.

By the end of the 1950s, in the intense push to isolate the cause of polio and create a vaccine, over a million monkeys died, both in transport and in laboratories. [See Week 1/Chapter 1 of this course, A Case in Point, “The Use of Animals in the Development of Polio Vaccine.”]  In an effort both to both save money (monkeys were costly) and to increase productivity, researchers began replacing the use of monkey kidneys as media for growing polio virus with cell lines from these kidneys. There was widespread concern on the part of the public about the treatment of the monkeys and their diminishing populations in the wild. Many researchers shared this moral concern, furthering the impetus to find alternatives. By the 1950s, new technology was available to satisfy all key stakeholders — research needs, a public at risk from the disease, and the monkeys themselves. This is a clear example of how societal concerns on the part of both scientists and the lay public supported a specific direction in technological innovation.

Questions about using animals in research are ongoing and engage scientists and those who support their work on a daily basis. In the field of animal-based research, it has become the unique mission of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee to grapple with these questions and make decisions that balance the needs of society, as represented by proposed scientific study, with those of the animals upon who those studies depend.