Animal use

But before research starts, researchers must first pass an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) composed of scientists and veterinarians, explaining the purpose of their study and what will happen in the process.

“It’s important to make sure you’re using the simplest evolved species. Don’t use a dog or cat if you can use a rat or mouse. Don’t use a rat or mouse if you can use a fish,” said Linda Cork,  former head of the Department of Comparative Medicine at Stanford University. She was a veterinary pathologist in charge of the research animals at the university and worked with dogs.

According to Cornell University, the majority of animals used in research are rodents, but other species such as guinea pigs, rabbits, cats, dogs, pigs, cattle, sheep, horses, poultry, amphibians, avians, and aquatic species are used. Many of these animals share a majority of their DNA with humans.

Labs aim to limit animal testing while continuing valuable research through other models like computer simulations, but the human body is so complex that animals are often the only option because of their genetic similarities.

After a researcher selects their animals, they conduct their study. Universities nationwide practice animal testing for research under regulations such as the Animal Welfare Act and those by the National Institute of Health, and throughout the experiment, the IACUC conducts unannounced inspections of animal facilities to enforce the well-being of research animals.

“You can’t deny entry to the inspectors and be like, ‘Oh I need to clean the bathroom,’” Cork said.

At the end of a study, different animals have different outcomes. 

“The dogs are put up for adoption. The rats are bred in the facility for the purposes of being tested on, and at the end of the experiment, they are euthanized,” said Sara Shayesteh, a Carlmont biology teacher.

Some animal research leads to worthwhile discoveries.

To figure out how human bodies responded to COVID-19, scientists genetically modified mice and bred them to have human cells that responded to the virus. Their bodies grew weak, similar to how humans react to symptoms. This research helped lead to the development of the COVID-19 vaccine.

However, according to Hank Greely, a Stanford law professor specializing in the ethical, legal, and social issues in bioscience research, most animal research doesn’t lead to anything useful.

In addition to labs using animals to find medical breakthroughs, high school and college-level bioscience classes often use animals to support learning by studying them.

Carlmont’s human biology classes purchase specimens from a local butcher, Costco, and Bio Corporation to dissect for labs.

The classes dissect chickens, sheep brains, frogs, and cow eyes to study animal systems and learn from them. 

“The pictures of the anatomy of different species are not going to be exact,” said junior Natalie Su, who took human biology. “Especially for the cow eyeball and the sheep brain, the dissections were helpful for seeing where everything was. In the pictures, it’s hard to see through the layers.”

Regular biology classes used to perform dissections, but because of a shift in curriculums, the human body is no longer a standard, so dissections are no longer necessary.

“I think using animals in the way that we use them now, we try to use them as a way to engage students,” Shayesteh said. “When we worked with rolly pollies or when we work with brine shrimp, I’ve never had anybody not want to participate.”