Irene Castle: The Unsung Role of a Humanitarian Towards Fundamentals Defining the Operation of Modern IACUCs
Journal Title: Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research (BJSTR) - Year 2017, Vol 1, Issue 3
Abstract
Animal research is an evolutionary process where researchers subject themselves to strong competition for funding. Since 1985, the approval of such endeavors had envisioned the official incorporation of strict rules and regulations to assure humane animal use and care, falling under IACUCs regulation. In order to get their projects approved, researchers comply with their respective institutional organizations but they are rarely, if never exposed, to data involving the fundamentals resulting in the creation of modern IACUCs. Therefore, this paper intends to fill out an outstanding gap of information regarding the foundation of the first known animal ethics committee in the Chicago-area during 1945, and the struggles that characterized its genesis and the official implementation among medical organizations, while describing the early role played by distinct key characters involved that resulted in modern IACUCs.The historical development of biomedical research and animal use has evolved notoriously in the last five decades, resting upon well-structured projects supported by governmental and private agencies worldwide. [1]. Thus, the funding of modern research is intensely competitive, [2,3] and despite close scientific scrutiny, the final approval of projects depends not only on their scientific merit, but also on bioethical concerns of animal welfare duly regulated by law in the U.S. and many countries [4-7] through modern IACUC´s, the institutional bodies responsible for the application of strict regulations [8], as the three R’s (reduction, refinement and replacement [9] and the implementation of alternative methods including the criteria of humane endpoints to avoid unnecessary distress and suffering of laboratory subjects [8,10,11]. Today, fostered by strict federal directives, animal care policies are commonly applied to oversee the compliance in accredited recipient institutions and enhance the even current needed professional training and education among veterinarians; this is supported by especial funding for the new or costly remodeled animal facilities to assure proper designs and high-quality operations, capable of meeting the strong demands of the research and society.Despite today´s common knowledge on animal welfare on animal research and care by the scientists, the majority of the new generations of veterinarians are unaware of the vast deficiencies sustained by the early practitioners of Laboratory Animal Medicine [13,14], affecting animal husbandry and health leading to obtain unpredictable results. Conditions at the time were not only unfavorable, but it would often invalidate research results because of cross-contamination and the resulting spread of diseases.It is then fair to assume, that today most colleagues ignore the notorious interventions of fierce animal advocates against vivisection and animal abuse or neglect during the beginnings of the 20th century in the U.S., [15-17] an era when research began seeking to promote human health and welfare. During 1945, The National Antivivisection Society of Chicago intensively fueled the antivivisection movement; this activity resulted in restless interventions becoming a boiling spot of harsh criticism towards any kind of animal use or experimentation, prompting the strong reaction of the organized medical community in defense of animal research [13,14,17].
Authors and Affiliations
Eduardo Tena- Betancourt, J Gerardo Arroyo-Del Castillo, Regina J Bautista-Carbajal, Lukas Reipen
Keywords
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- EP ID EP566702
- DOI 10.26717/BJSTR.2017.01.000298
- Views 176
- Downloads 0
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