• Question: Does any of your work harm animals?

    Asked by Liv to Angela, Claire, Ian, Robert, Sarah on 10 Nov 2014. This question was also asked by Rambo, Sophieeeee, Farmer Dan, agatha window, elsa, TheChosenOne'sSidekick.
    • Photo: Angela Stokes

      Angela Stokes answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      Hi Liv
      My personal work does not involve testing on animals however in general when a new medicine is being discovered it has to be tested to make sure it is safe to use not only in humans and also in sick animals, as many medicines are developed to help animals get better from diseases that don’t affect humans. This testing is most often done in a test tube type environment but occasionally it is necessary to test on a very small number of animals – but the number and types of test are strictly monitored and animals are not treated badly.

    • Photo: Sarah Harris

      Sarah Harris answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      Hi Liv,

      At the moment I don’t work anything involving animals, but during my Pharmacology degree I did some work with rodents.

      When I was a younger I didn’t agree with animal testing, but as I’ve learnt more about it and met more scientists who do it, I’ve come to realise why it’s done. We’re lucky in the UK because there are a lot of strict laws to protect animals used in science (the Animal Procedures Act), and all the scientists I’ve met who work with animals really like them – they chose to work in that area because they know they’ll treat them as kindly as possible. The experiments are designed to cause the least harm and discomfort possible and without them we wouldn’t have drugs that treat asthma, or headaches, or many others you take when you’re ill.

      If you want to find out more, this website is very helpful http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/

    • Photo: Ian Cade

      Ian Cade answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      Sometimes one or two of our masters students look a bit glum, so probably yes… but not very seriously

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