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The Ethics of Research Involving Animals Published by Nuffield Council on Bioethics 28 Bedford Square London WC1B 3JS The ethics of research involving animals Published by Nuffield Council on Bioethics 28 Bedford Square London WC1B 3JS Telephone: 020 7681 9619 Fax: 020 7637 1712 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.nuffieldbioethics.org ISBN 1 904384 10 2 May 2005 To order a printed copy please contact the Nuffield Council or visit the website. © Nuffield Council on Bioethics 2005 All rights reserved. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, no part of the publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means, without prior permission of the copyright owners. Designed by dsprint / redesign 7 Jute Lane Brimsdown Enfield EN3 7JL Printed by Latimer Trend & Company Ltd Estover Road Plymouth PL6 7PY The ethics of research involving animals Nuffield Council on Bioethics Professor Sir Bob Hepple QC, FBA (Chairman) Professor Catherine Peckham CBE (Deputy Chairman) Professor Tom Baldwin Professor Margot Brazier OBE* Professor Roger Brownsword Professor Sir Kenneth Calman KCB FRSE Professor Peter Harper The Rt Reverend Richard Harries DD FKC FRSL Professor Peter Lipton Baroness Perry of Southwark** (up to March 2005) Professor Lord Raymond Plant Professor Martin Raff FRS (up to March 2005) Mr Nick Ross (up to March 2005) Professor Herbert Sewell Professor Peter Smith CBE Professor Dame Marilyn Strathern FBA Dr Alan Williamson FRSE * (co-opted member of the Council for the period of chairing the Working Party on the ethics of prolonging life in fetuses and the newborn) ** (co-opted member of the Council for the period of chairing the Working Party on the ethics of research involving animals) Secretariat Dr Sandy Thomas (Director) Dr Catherine Moody (Deputy Director) Mr Harald Schmidt Ms Caroline Rogers Ms Catherine Joynson (from January 2005) Ms Julia Fox (up to March 2005) Ms Carol Perkins (from April 2005) Ms Elaine Talaat-Abdalla Mr Mun-Keat Looi The terms of reference of the Council are: 1 to identify and define ethical questions raised by recent advances in biological and medical research in order to respond to, and to anticipate, public concern; 2 to make arrangements for examining and reporting on such questions with a view to promoting public understanding and discussion; this may lead, where needed, to the formulation of new guidelines by the appropriate regulatory or other body; 3 in the light of the outcome of its work, to publish reports; and to make representations, as the Council may judge appropriate. The Nuffield Council on Bioethics is funded jointly by the Medical Research Council, the Nuffield Foundation and the Wellcome Trust III Foreword The issues addressed in this Report have been a subject of intense public debate over at least the past four hundred years. Feelings are strong on all sides of the issues, and in recent years reports of violent action against those conducting animal research in the UK have brought the matter to the forefront of public attention. Members of the Working Party, like members of the public, hold many different and sometimes opposing views. Nevertheless, the group has been able to conduct its inquiry in an atmosphere conducive to gaining a better understanding of the scientific and ethical issues involved, and avoiding the polarisation of views which has so often stifled proper debate. It is in this spirit that we present our Report. Throughout the Working Party’s meetings, many varied opinions were quite properly represented and argued through, and we have tried to analyse the ethical bases on which different opinions are held. A respect for the basis of beliefs different from one's own has enabled members of the group to agree on a consensus statement and to present conclusions and recommendations which, while not always necessarily representing the views of all, do as comprehensively as possible offer a clarification of the debate. Where widely different views are held, we have sought to set them out as clearly as possible. This approach, we believe, should contribute to fair and balanced discussions among individuals and to decision making by those in government or other official and regulatory bodies. We have been conscious that conclusions about the use of animals involved in research, diverse as this is, must be seen in the wider context of the use of animals in food, in clothing, as pets and as working animals in farming and other occupations. Science, however, is progressing rapidly in new technologies such as cloning, genetic modification and also in the development of alternatives to the use of animals. The Report sets out in some detail the range of scientific uses of animals including the uses being made of these new advances. It considers the ethical issues of research involving animals in the light of these developments, the implications for regulation, and the provision of information and education. As Chair of the Working Group, I would like to record my thanks to all members, who have worked so hard to produce a Report which, I hope, will genuinely provide helpful analysis and insight into this topic, often at great personal cost. I also thank the Council for their help and advice throughout the two years of the Group's work. We all owe a great debt also to the Secretariat who have taken the burden of producing a long and comprehensive Report, agreed as fair and balanced by the Group as well as by those who so helpfully read and refereed early drafts for us. I should like to pay special tribute to Harald Schmidt, Secretary to the Working Party, whose skills and knowledge were invaluable. We hope that the Report will be a useful starting point of reference for all those concerned with this important issue in the time ahead. Baroness Perry of Southwark V Acknowledgements The Council wishes to thank the members of the Working Party for their contribution. Their expertise has been invaluable. It also wishes to thank the many organisations and individuals who have responded to the invitation to comment on the Consultation paper. The Council is very grateful to Professor Nancy Rothwell, Professor Sir Patrick Bateson, Professor Mary Midgley, Professor Stephen Clark, Professor Alan Holland, Dr Ray Hill, Dr Gill Langley, Dr Richard Ryder, Mike Radford and David Thomas who reviewed an earlier version of this Report. Their comments were extremely helpful. It further wishes to thank the following individuals who provided valuable insights in fact-finding meetings: Michele Corrado, Dr Gill Samuels, Graham Moore and colleagues, Rosie Barnes, Christine Cryne, Robert Meadowcroft, Dr Patricia Coulson, Dr Betsy Pownall, Dr Harv Isaacs, Professor Henry Leese, Professor Alan Wilson, Mike Snelling, Professor Alistair Fitter, Piran White, Professor Geoff Hall, Dr Chris Springall and colleagues, Professor Michael Balls, Dr Gill Langley, Dr Jon Richmond, Professor Michael Banner, Richard West, Dr Ray Greek, Kathy Archibald, Professor Roger Lemon, Robert Walker, Martin Lawton, John Frogley, Brian Cass, Andrew Gay, and David Whittaker. The Council and the Working Group are also grateful to individuals who responded to requests for advice on specific parts of the Report, including Professor Colin Allen, Professor Marc Bekoff, Dr Derek Fry, Dr Penny Hawkins, Dr Gill Langley, Professor David Morton, Dr Barry Philips, Dr Jon Richmond, Dr Vicky Robinson, Stefan Schleim, Dr Jane Smith, Dr Peter Thornton, Martin Walsh, and David Wood. VI Table of contents Council membership and terms of reference ..................................................................................iii Foreword..............................................................................................................................................v Acknowledgements............................................................................................................................vi Members of the Working Party ......................................................................................................viii Working Party terms of reference ...................................................................................................xv Summary and recommendations....................................................................................................xvii SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT . .1 Chapter 1 – Introduction ...........................................................................................................3 Research involving animals: outline of the controversy ..................................................................5 Types of research and numbers of animals used..............................................................................6 Issues raised by specific types of animal research ............................................................................7 The context of the debate .................................................................................................................8 Structure of the Report ......................................................................................................................9 Chapter 2 – The context of animal research: past and present .........................13 Introduction.......................................................................................................................................15 Early forms of animal research in the biological and medical sciences........................................15 Scientific developments and public opinion in the 18th and 19th centuries...............................16
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