OneClickPolitics

End invasive brain experiments on animals

I was disturbed to learn about invasive brain experiments on rats taking place at University of California San Diego. These studies, in the laboratory of Andrea Chiba, offend the sensibilities and are completely unjustifiable in 2015 when many high quality, non-invasive neuro-imaging techniques are available. Human neuro-imaging is painless and without risk to participants. It produces human-relevant data, rather than poorly extrapolating from animals.

For example, a 2012 study by H. Zeng et al compared brain slices obtained from human autopsies with those obtained from mice. They discovered that 21% of the gene expression profiles involved in processing visual and sensory information were different. To suggest that mice, rats, and other animals can serve as effective models of the human brain is to ignore these enormous differences.

We don’t need to search for “clues” in the brains of animals when we have modern technological tools that allows us to derive actual findings from the working human brain.

I urge UCSD to raise its standards for research by eliminating poorly translatable animal experiments that waste government funds and perpetuate outdated modalities. These experiments are archaic in their construction and outcomes, cause unacceptable animal suffering, and must be replaced with modern, human-relevant science.

This letter is going to the Chancellor of the University of California San Diego

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