This is a very extensive summary of the course Laboratory Animal Science (LAS) FELASA certificate Article 9. It contains information from the lectures, which also included images for better visualization. Also, summaries of all the e-learnings are included.
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L1 Introduction to Laboratory Animal Science…………………………………………………………………2
L2 Ethical aspects of animal experimentation…………………………………………………………………4
L3 Legislation………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………8
L4 Animal models: choices and consequences …………………………………………………………….14
L5 Replacement, reduction and refinement…………………………………………………………………..18
L6 Experimental design and statistics…………..………………………………………………………………21
L7 The art of randomization……………………….………………………………………………………………..24
E-learning Searching for alternative methods…………………………………………………………………25
L8 Microbiology and hygiene………………………………………………………………………………………..27
L9 Principles of analgesia……………………………………………………………………………………………32
E-learning Human methods of killing…………..………………………………………………………………..35
L10 Principles of surgery…………………………….……………………………………………………………….38
E-learning Anesthesia for minor procedures…………………………………………………………………..40
E-learning Recognition and prevention of pain, suTering and distress………………..………………46
L11 Anesthesia and euthanasia…….…………………………………………………………………………..…48
E-learning systematic reviews of animal studies..……………………………………………………………51
L12 Nutrition……………………………………………………………..………………………………………………52
L13 Recognition and prevention of pain, suTering and distress – species specific…………..……55
L14 Organoids and organ-on-chips……………………………………………………………………………….58
L15 Proefdiervrij on animal experiments…………………………..……………………………………………61
,L1 – Introduction to Laboratory Animal Science
Laboratory animal science = multidisciplinary science contributing to:
- Quality of science and animal studies
- Healthy and wellbeing of laboratory animals (can be conflicting with first argument)
- Public acceptance of animal studies (a lot of discussion if animal models should be
allowed, but we do not yet have a fully developed alternative)
Once upon a time there was no regulation on animal studies
Rise in science, people started to perform more animal studies, therefore legislation on animal
experiments were set
1977 first legislation on animal experiments à large decline in animal experiments
Then the numbers of animal studies equaled throughout the years
In 2014 a new dutch law on animal experiments (WOD) was set
Legislation and registration is diTerent over the world.
There is no legal base for education & training in the Netherlands
- There is an education and training framework to promote harmonization, ensure
competence and facilitate free movement of personnel
- Outcome based on general agreement, not binding
- Interpretation is left to Member States
3R’s:
- Replacement = any scientific method employing non-sentient material which may
replace methods which use conscious living vertebrates
o Eye safety testing is now performed in in vitro tests, previously a Draize eye test
on rabbits gave insight into the eTects of a chemical on eyes
o A lot of experiments are already performed in in vitro tests, but still this is not
possible for all studies yet
o Transitie proefdiervrije innovatie is an organization in the Netherlands that
promotes the transition of animal studies to alternatives such as in vitro models
- Reduction = lowering the number of animals used to obtain information of a given
amount and precision
o More animals but low discomfort is preferred compared to less animals but high
discomfort
- Refinement = the set of measures undertaken to decrease in the incidence or severity of
procedures applied to those animals which have to be used
o How much blood (% of body weight) can you maximally collect from an animal
when you want to prevent anemia/shock? à 10%
Systematic reviews = performed at the beginning of a study
- What is already known on this topic?
- Data is aggregated in a meta-analysis
- What are the next steps? What information is still needed?
Randomization = a group of mice should be positioned into diTerent groups. Randomize which
mouse goes into a particular group, to decrease bias. Many studies do not report any
randomization or blinding.
2
,PreClinical Trials database where you put on protocols for animal studies. So that people also
know which animal studies gave negative results (so not published), so that other research
groups will not perform such an animal study again.
Translatability = animal models are limited in their ability to translate to humans: of the drugs
that have proved promising in animal trials, 86-90% fail in human trials.
- A mouse is not a human and so there are diTerences that we do not expect beforehand
Reproducibility = problem that an experiment cannot be reproduced in another animal research
facility
- Publishing exactly what you did to make it easier to reproduce and become a more
reliable study
- Setting should be the same
Do you really need laboratory animals?
à If so, use of laboratory animals in a respectful way
Think about ethical evaluation an experiments (ethical committees will review your project
ideas)
à Understand and implement the 3Rs principles
Design an animal experiment that has scientifically reliable and useful results, that considers
animal welfare and minimizes animal discomfort
3
, L2 – Ethical aspects of animal experimentation
DEC = committee that looks at proposals and judges if these are fine to be executed from an
ethical point of view.
Two opposing views of what is the right thing to do: pro or con animal testing à ethical dilemma
From philosophy/ethics that found its way in the European law for animal testing.
Ethics = study (analysis) of moral judgements (right-wrong claims) and moral dilemmas (cases in
which there is no clear “right-thing-to-do”).
Ethics can be:
- Descriptive (who says what and with what grounds)
- Normative (building a solid argumentation for a right-wrong statements)
- Evaluative (providing a method to weigh possible actions)
Three fundamental ethical questions:
1) Are animal experiments morally permissible at all? à Society says yes
a. Moral status, extrapolation
2) If so, which animal experiments are allowed and which not?
a. Alternatives, harm-benefit
3) How should the experimental design be assessed the ethical evaluation?
a. Experimental design, public communication
Moral status of animals: the Netherlands were one of the last countries that implemented a law
on animal testing.
Antropocentrism vs. zoocentrism
Antropocentrism = only humans are morally relevant (have intrinsic value). Animals (may) have
only instrumental value (determined by the scala naturae, humans are placed above animals).
- Humans have naturally (or God-given) a higher status than animals
- Humans are the only beings that are rational (seeing cause and eTect and weighing
eTects)
- Humans are the only beings able to communicate and come to agreements
- Humans are the only beings with a soul (animals are merely machines)
- Animals are not capable of suTering (at least not in the meaningful way that humans are)
Zoocentrism = animals are all morally relevant (in so much as they have the capacity to suTer)
- Peter Singer: how should we treat animals as well as environmental issues.
o Zoocentric argument from capacity to suTer
o Book written by Peter Singer: Animal Liberation (1975)
o Physical response that accompanies pain, stress, but also joy and pleasure is
similar in animals and humans (pain is important for all organisms, are thus also
present in animals (homology, we come from the same background, containing
the same evolutionary pressures))
§ Premise 1 is logical from evolutionary point-of-view (function of e.g.,
pain)
§ Conclusion: animals must feel pain as humans do
4
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