Transgenic research prompts increased rodent use at U., nationwide

There has been a small upward trend in the University’s laboratory rodent use since the last numbers were made available in 2007, according to Dr. Laura Conour, director of laboratory animal research and University attending veterinarian.

A Feb. 25 study in the Journal of Medical Ethics found animal use in laboratories nationwide has increased by nearly 73 percent over the last 15 years, driven primarily by an increase in rodent use.

The study was conducted by researchers with the advocacy group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Inventories obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by Dr. Alka Chandna, co-author of the article, from the years 1997, 2002 and 2007 do not show a clear trend of increased use of animals in the psychology, molecular biology and ecology and evolutionary biology departments at the University.

On Nov. 30, 2007, there were 20,601 animals in inventory, on Dec. 17, 2002, there were 12,731 in inventory and on Oct. 31, 1997, there were 19,298.

The number of rodents in the inventory decreased from 14,445 in 1997to 6,569 in 2007.However, that trend may have changed since 2007.

“We have gone up a little bit in terms of our rodent use,” Conour said, adding that she did not know of any specific numbers that would be currently maintained by the University.

Chandna said that the problem with such record-keeping is the increased use of animals that are vaguely categorized, including many rodent species, since they are not subject to regulations such as the Animal Welfare Act.

The Animal Welfare Act sets minimum standards of care and treatment for animals bred for commercial sale, transport and research.

Matthew Bailey, vice president at the National Association for Biomedical Research, which advocates for the humane use of animals in laboratories, saidhe was not surprised by the increased use of genetically modified rodents in biomedical research in the United States.

“With advancements in biotechnology over the last 20 years, scientists with genetically modified rodents are better able to better understand genetic causes of disease and develop more effective treatments,” Bailey said.

Rodents are also convenient for laboratory use, Conour noted.

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“[Rodent use] is a feasible research tool that exists,” she said.

Over 70 percent of rodents used for research at the University are genetically manipulated to investigate the effects of injecting new genetic information into mice genomes or phenotype mutation through the over-expression of particular genes, Conour said. She explained she thought PETA’s data reflected a general surge in transgenic research.

Transgenic science allows for multiple gene alterations in animal subjects, to investigate research into combinations of gene mutations and various gene combination functions.

Research universities receive funding from institutions such as the National Institutes of Health for laboratory work that uses animals subject to the AWA.

The NIH’s Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare released a statement calling PETA’s study inaccurate because the numbers in the study only represent the number of animals in a laboratory's inventory at a given time and not actually the number being used for research.

The NIH declined to comment beyond that statement.

Animal censuses at any institution are affected by levels of new grant rewards or funding decreases, Conour said.

“I think for us, in terms of increased rodent use, we’ve had a new junior faculty member come on in the Department of Molecular Biology, and he’s a rodent user, and so I think our numbers went up because we had an additional faculty member doing animal research come on board,” Conour said.

Bailey noted that PETA has declined requests to share the data behind the study, which is an unusual decision.

“You also have to look at the motivation of the group [PETA],” he added, noting that publishing such data is in the group’s best interest.

Bailey explained that the study’s results offers PETA, an organization that does not want animals to be used in research at all, a factual platform from which to launch funding and advocacy efforts.