Ethics of Research involving animals
The pathogenesis of disease
6.2 The study of the causes of disease is known as etiology. The mechanisms by which a disease develops, causes tissue damage and spreads within the body are known as pathogenesis. Understanding the etiology and pathogenesis of a disease is usually necessary in order to develop strategies to either prevent or limit disease. For example, a disease may be prevented by vaccination or the use of antibiotics. The effects of a disease may be limited by means of therapies and therapeutics that reduce inflammation or stop further tissue degeneration.
6.3 Most diseases are complex and involve dynamic interactions between molecular and cellular systems, which influence the development of the disease process.1 Biologists who study a particular disease often use a variety of methods, both animal and non-animal, to investigate its mode of action. For example, pathogenesis studies with animal models are generally complemented by clinical, epidemiological and imaging studies using humans.
While all of these areas are very important, researchers whose work involves living animals consider that their research plays a special role in the study of the pathogenesis of diseases of animals and humans, because it is often the most effective method of studying the complex interactions between molecules, cells and organs that occur in disease processes. For example, transferring a disease from one animal to another is commonly held to be the most reliable way to establish that a disease is caused by an infectious agent. This principle was first demonstrated in the 19th century when mice were injected with blood from cows infected with anthrax. The research showed clearly that the mice subsequently developed the disease.
| Comments on the use of animals for the study of human diseases from respondents to the Consultation ‘To make any real progress in biological research there is no alternative but to use animals.’ Professor Julian Blow ‘The fact that animal research provides essential information that is of benefit to both humans and animals is well proven and current available vaccines, surgical procedures and treatments available…support this argument. In many instances this information could not have been provided by any other method…’ Institute for Animal Health, Compton Laboratory ‘Animals are important as biological processes are complex and cannot be replaced or simulated properly by computers.’ Mr Kedarraja Kistnareddy ‘Research using whole animals has been fundamental to our understanding of whole-animal and whole-organ physiology for decades and will remain so indefinitely.’ Dr RM Ridley and Dr HF Baker ‘It is not proved that animal research is a superior route to information. Transference of results can, and has, proved misleading.’ International Primate Protection League UK ‘Whether rodents are the best animal to study for research related to human disease is debatable but practicalities dictate that these are often used and related results in the scientific literature are likely to focus on rodents.’ Professor Bernie Hannigan ‘The only reliable model for a human is a human.’ Anonymous |