World Laboratory Animal Liberation Week

Forgot to mention this earlier in the week, as I only remembered while wondering why I needed my access card to get through one of the buildings on campus yesterday.

Apparantly this week is World Laboratory Animal Liberation Week. I am a scientist, and yes, I work with mice. There are many reasons for doing so. They are mammals, and thus their physiology resembles human physiology more closely than say, a fly or a zebrafish (both important models for other scientific studies). Also, they are genetically closer to humans than those other model organisms. And they are small, so they are more cost-effective to use for research than other mammals, such as rats, rabbits, dogs, cats, monkeys, etc.

Yes, I have to sacrifice mice on occasion for my developmental biology research. But everything is carried out according to strict regulations in order to ensure that the animals are treated as humanely as possible.

If you don't agree with animal research, that's fine with me. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. All I stipulate is that if you are one of those people that think all laboratory animals should be released from captivity (and I realize this is an extreme position), you better not ever be taking any drugs that are approved by the FDA. All those medications are tested extensively on animals before they start human clinical trials. And why? So that they know loads of information about side effects, toxicity, dosage, etc. So that when they start giving drugs to people they don't end up killing those people.

That's all I ask. Don't be a hypocrite. If you're going to have extreme views, at least be well-informed and committed to those views.

For an interesting look at a PETA campaign, click here and download the "Rat's Life" book. It's never too early to start lying to your children. Because rats are clean (nevermind that whole "spreading the Black Plague through Europe" thing) and scientists are evil. Duh.