Animal Testing Unprotested At BU

Boston University labs will continue to use animals to research human diseases because they remain an irreplaceable research tool, according to BU’s Animal Care Facility staff.

Animal research helps scientists better understand the natural world and current human medical problems, according to Beverly Keniston, director of the Animal Care Facility.

Keniston said BU is currently using animals on a number of projects, including studies of animal gender behavior and research into the suppression of cancer cells. The facility works mostly with rats and never uses large animals like dogs and cats, according to Keniston.

According to Keniston, the staff houses animals in accordance with all applicable laws and deals with them as humanely possible. BU labs must not only adhere to Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee standards, but also to BU policy standards, Keniston said. She said government regulation is as specific as the room temperature in which animals must be housed.

“Research is extremely valuable, but scientists are duty-bound to adhere to the ethical standards,” said Ecology department professor Chris Schneider.

Keniston stressed the line between animal testing and animal research.

“We do not use animals to test products, but to conduct important research experiments in a variety of fields,” she said.

Keniston said it is important animals be treated well, not just for ethical or humane reasons, but for scientific reasons as well. She said if an animal is stressed, the experiment will not be accurate or repeatable.

“We make life as comfortable as we can for our animals, not just for legal and research necessities, but also out of a genuine concern for their well-being,” Keniston said.

Keniston said BU’s animal lab is used by all on-campus departments that use animals, including some of the biology programs and the pre-veterinarian department. The lab is divided into many rooms, each housing a different species as mandated by law.

Warkentin and Keniston both said they have heard little objection to the use of animals at BU from students or faculty, though other universities have seen a recent outcry.

“There’s always the occasional comment in some newsletter or a student’s paper, but I think on a whole, students realize the value of our work,” Keniston said.

Washington State University faced recent criticism from the Animal Liberation Front, an animal rights group, regarding their animal research policies. The Daily Evergreen, the school’s student newspaper, reported the group has repeatedly vandalized the school’s laboratory.

The article said Washington St. complies with federal regulations and their staff also stresses ethical animal treatment, though the school’s research includes the use of dogs and bears.

Most animals are euthanized painlessly at the end of experiments with an overdose of anesthetics, according to Keniston. She said labs are discouraged from giving animals that have been experimented on up for adoption. Instead, animals can be given to wildlife programs or used for additional research at BU if they are used chiefly for demonstration purposes, she said.

While working with computers would be ideal, professor Karen Warkentin said they are not nearly as useful as live animals.

Warkentin said she plans to use animal research in working to understand the mechanisms and evolution of embryos, focusing on amphibian eggs and their predators. She said she will involve students in the new project.

“There is no way I could find out the things I am discovering without using live animals,” Warkentin said. “Embryos are capable of far more than we suspected prior to these live studies … They can actually jump out of a snakes mouth. We would have never discovered that with a computer model.”

Keniston agreed.

“When dealing with a computer, you can only get out what you put into it,” he said. “We use such technology to help us narrow down the research and limit the numbers of life specimens that must be used, but the computer only knows what we know.”

Though some students said they object to the use of animals in research, others could see its utility.

“This type of research can obviously not be done on humans, but it reaps results that could benefit the whole human race, as well as other species,” said Steve Martinez, a sophomore in the College of General Studies. “The animals are being bred for the purpose of these studies. Their participation in a research project could cure millions of people — how can you get more ethical than that?”