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From: "James a. Mulick, PhD" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Let me show you why this is nonsense. You quoted the following assertion:
"Vague language such as this does not indicate a real commitment to
replacing, or even reducing, the total numbers of animals used in
experiments. Virtually every institution funding animal experiments claims
that it uses animals only when necessary. Yet, countless examples have
shown that animal experiments done in these same institutions are often of
questionable scientific merit. For example, the March of Dimes funded an
experiment which involved killing and comparing the brains of normal cats,
kittens, cats who had one eye sewn shut for at least a year, and cats who
were reared in complete darkness.12 By the March of Dimes' own admission,
no clinically relevant advances came from this study, yet March of Dimes'
spokespersons continue to claim its researchers use animals only when
"necessary.""
Those particular experiments are useful in a number of ways. They
demonstrate the time limits of central nervous system plasticity in the
visual system. Plasticity refers to the ability of the environment to
create a functional substrate for normal brain function (perception,
behavior, bodily regulation) via experience. You see, the brain is the
organ of adaptation, and animals differ in how much, when, and what parts
and functions of the brain are modifiable by the world into which the
animal is born. For cats and humans (among others) vision is very
important for survival, including functions in predation, defense, and
reproduction. Sewing up those eyes over several decades worth of
experiments (after the Nobel Prize winning pioneering work of Hubel and
Weisel who did it first) has shown (among other things) that early
experience literally shapes the architecture and function of the visual
system, that this sensitivity to experience is a time limited phenomenon
in cats, that intervention must take place within these time constraints
if (as in the case of congenital cataracts) it is going to result in a
normally constructed and functioning visual system (and normal vision - a
cat, like a human archer - with no depth perception is a sorry hunter).
The details of how the brain cells are arrange as a result of experience
(or lack of visual experience) have shown the limits of otherwise feasible
intervention. As for human applicability, I had a postdoc twenty years ago
whose ophthalmologist decided to wait too long to correct her "wandering
eye," which he would not have done if he had had a clue about the meaning
of the cat research. But then, physicians are not scientists, but rather
consumers of experimental science (unless they obtain scientific training
after their medical training). That postdoc never achieved normal depth
perception. Why were pretty kitties chosen for this important research?
They were chosen because they have an accessible and adaptable visual
system, are small enough to house in a lab, available in large numbers (in
some countries they are considered pests because they reproduce quickly
and damage human property and resources), and their behavior is highly
visually dependent (like humans). Once the visual system was studied for
these issues, this known territory has then been a platform for studying
another aspects of neurological growth and development, genetics,
pharmacology, and on and on. This is because you can advance quicker and
go a greater distance using familiar material that unfamiliar material.
Without experimental biology, medicine would be a bunch of guesses. Wrong
guesses please neither patient nor practitioner. You can't study complex
integrated functions of life in a cell culture, or in people because the
necessary experiments would not leave them happy campers. Get real. It
isn't about animal housing, or feelings, or sadism, but it is about
necessary knowledge for human welfare. Contrary to popular belief, most
lab scientists are not paid particularly well, nor are they on the take
from drug or cosmetic companies, although some are of course; but rather
they are dedicated to answering questions of human significance that are
needed to successfully manage our existence in an increasingly complex,
industrial society that presents new dangers in addition to the ancient
plagues that have always (but less so now because of science) dogged our
tracks and those of our kin and tribe. And we are lucky as all hell that
they are are willing, these bio-nerds and geeks, to suffer the criticism
of dopes merely for access to the truth about how things really are.
Sometimes I wonder if antivivisectionists would like special treatment
when they become ill, or they have a child with a birth defect, or need
surgery (how many practice pigs does it take before you let a surgeon try
his new technique on your lover or son?), and would like a special section
in the hospital where helplessly uninformed "healers" can hold their hands
and pray with them and offer them tea, and that is all.
see:
http://www.ssc.uwo.ca/psychology/undergraduate/psych240b-2/lectureslides/Brain%20development.ppt
James A. Mulick, Ph.D.
Professor, Pediatrics & Psychology
The Ohio State University
Developmental Assessment Program
187 West Schrock Road
Westerville OH 43081
(o) 614-355-8315 (f) 614-355-8361
Alt Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[No Institutional Endorsement of Message
Content Implied - or even very likely]
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates (LEA) Publishers Presents:
Title: CONTROVERSIAL THERAPIES FOR DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES (paper)
Subtitle: Fads, Fashion, and Science in Professional Practice
Author: John W. Jacobson (ed.), Richard M. Foxx (ed.), and James A. Mulick
(ed.) ISBN: 0-8058-4192-X Year: 2005 Price: $49.95
Animal Experimentation Issues
Understanding Claims about Animal Experiments
<snip>
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