Interactive video instead of live rat
Sometimes the confluence of ethics and computers does produce something new. Jumping on the bandwagon of the emerging use of computers in biology, bio-informatics, a researcher at the University of Groningen has developed an interactive video disc to replace live rats in educational experiments. The university will use the computer program to further reduce the use of lab animals for ethical reasons.
Although the use of computers is spreading in modern biological research at an amazing speed, researchers stick to the use of live animals to teach their students the basic physiology courses. Most biology, chemistry and medicine students still learn how to decapitate a frog in their first year. And many still think that nothing beats a rat when learning how organs like the heart and the blood system function in mammals.
In the last couple of years, however, the debate on the use of lab animals has increased students' awareness of the distress these experiments often inflict on the animal.
Christien Brouwer's program, 'Blood regulation in the rat', offers an alternative to fiddling with live animals. Brouwer: "True, students are not confronted with a living rat, but this program very carefully emulates the experiments and is therefore a serious alternative". The program consists of instructional videos about experimental procedures like the insertion of tubes in the veins and displays data on blood pressure and the variables involved. Students must choose a specific operation on the rat, by answering a number of questions on the variables they wish to measure, the techniques they plan to use, and time schedules. The disc then shows a video of that operation as it is actually performed.
The program not only focuses on biological knowledge and skills, but combines this with the handling of ethical considerations. After the operation the students must interpret the well-being of the rat. "Students must learn this from the behavior of the rat, and features like the shininess of its fur," Brouwer says. The computer tells the students whether they are right or wrong on this. Thereafter they must administer different drugs and substances to the rat and study its responses.
After the experiment they must think about caring for the rat. Brouwer: "I have decided to show extensive images of the rat after the experiment, so that the students learn that the experiment is not over after the results are in. After all, the rat is still there and must be taken care of. In this way, the students become more aware of the ethical implications of biological research."
