Ethical animal research can help us offer hope to children, families

[aabdullah]

SfN member Tania Roth authored an op-ed about the need for animal research in response to PETA protests at the University of Delaware.

delawareonline

UD professor: Ethical animal research can help us offer hope to children,...

Thanks to research on rats, we have a better understanding of how negative life experiences affect brain development.

[DLRobinson]

This is an excellent piece. I especially like this paragraph: “When conducting my research, I am dedicated to using as few animals as possible in a humane manner to achieve reliable scientific results. Importantly, animal welfare is not just part of my ethical standards, there are strict regulations by oversight agencies that are central to the integrity and quality of science.” This is an effective way to convey the facts that (1) we researchers have high ethical standards for our animal research and (2) we are accountable and have oversight.

[Amanda Labuza]

Yes! It is so important that we have articles like this. If people understood why we have to have animal research, and just how much work goes into taking care of the animals, there wouldn’t be nearly as much push back. We cannot do this research on children, but it is important research that needs to be done. But we conduct it as ethically and as minimally as possible.