Adcoms and Animal Research

[Tutmos]

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I'm just curious if people think some adcom members might be upset about primate research? I'm involved in neural research involving direct cellular recordings in primates and I certainly make mention of it in my EC's and essay. The thought suddenly occured to me that since one of the science faculty I've spoken with about an LOR seemed upset about it that some adcoms might be upset about it as well.

Obviously it's important research geared toward understanding how we function and attempts to further the goal of improving our health through understanding how our body works but some people just can't get past the emotional connections with animals.

Unreasonable concern?

 

[argonaute]

considering adcom members are doctors, who know that much of their medical literature on drugs and treatments is based upon experiments done on mice, primates, and humans, they probably should be okay with it. they know that without animal research, there is no cure.

 

[sunshinevet]

I know im not a premed, but...

I think you should be prepared to discuss the ethics behind animal testing in your interview, and talk about potential alternatives for animal testing. However, I think it would have to be a really close minded adcom not to realise that the majority of major breakthroughs we've had in science have come from animal testing. As long as you can discuss the ethics intelligently and thoughtfully, and acknowledge the sacrifice these animals have made and that it shouldn't be in vain etc, I think you should be absolutely fine.

However, if your all like "they're just animals"... it might not go down so well...

 

[argonaute]

yeah, i agree with sunshinevet that you should be prepared to defend your use of animals and discuss the ethics of it. Sit down with your pI if you aren't sure of what to say yet. your pI has had to write elaborate protocols and reports defending the use of animals in research. i know my pI has strong opinions about the use of animals in research (and especially on anti-animal research groups), and has really been enlightening on this issue of why we do the research we do as well as emphasizing the sacrifice of the animals and the seriousness of the matter.

and idk, you should definitely feel some sentiment for the animals already. i know i have trouble every time i decapitate a mouse.

 

[CoolWhipp]

How many times do we have to answer this question regarding the type of research? I'm starting to think its time for another 1 year hiatus.

 

[LizzyM]

In 10 years I have never heard an adcom member or an interviewer express any reservations about animal research as currently conducted in medical research institutions. You aren't likely to be asked to defend this type of work.

 

[schrizto]

In 10 years I have never heard an adcom member or an interviewer express any reservations about animal research as currently conducted in medical research institutions. You aren't likely to be asked to defend this type of work.

that's relieving to know.

 

[not so calm now]

The only professional in a science-related field I've ever heard speak out against animal testing was a vet. I wonder where she thought all the treatments she used came from.

 

[ShinyDome19]

Dont worry about it. I do animal research also and talked about it during my interviews; none of the interviewers seemed put off by it. Actually, one of them sat there and talked about some animal research they had done prior to becomming a physician.

 

[Doodledog]

Those who oppose animal research sometimes will consider primate research, which is done at only a small number of facilities, somewhat differently than other animal research. As such, although transgenic mice won't likely get much attention, it is possible that an adcom will ask about primate research. They are unlikely to "challenge" its ethics, but they may ask you how you felt about it and what protections were in place related to the animal's welfare. Although they are uncommon questions, they are definitely possible with primate research. I would advise you to be aware of the reasons why primates were used and the safety and health aspects of the care of the primates. If you can handle those questions, you will do fine and it may be a positive in the interview.

 

[austinap]

I don't think you'll have a problem. Keep in mind that no sane scientist would ever do animal research unless they had to: it's ridiculously expensive, requires special facilities, the experiments take far longer than comparable cell-based studies, and you have to deal with ethics boards. These are all pretty big impediments to research, so they're avoided whenever possible.

All of these requirements also become more severe the bigger the animals get as well, which is why many more labs to mouse research compared to primate research. Most reasonable physicians will be aware of this, and thus realize that you've already defended your use of animals. If they ask you, you can simply repeat all of this and maybe outline specifically why you need to use them. I don't envision it being a problem though.

 

[Tutmos]

Thanks for the comments. I wasn't concerned about it being ethical or being able to discuss and defend the use and care of the animals as I wouldn't be involved if I didn't think it was ethical. My understanding is that some adcoms are made up of both physicians and others. What I was most concerned about was members that might not have the hard core science background required in medicine and perhaps having an under the table dislike of, in particular, higher animal research.

The unfortunate reality is that a lot of people have been sucked into the green religion. While many aspects of it are good it also seems like a lot of extreme PETA style attitudes get dragged along with it as a package deal.

 

[akinetopsia]

I think the only time you have to answer is if your "animal research" consists of persistence hunting animals. Sorry, I'm reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.

Maybe it's impressive though if you can tire out a deer by running it to death instead of shooting it.