Open University Educational Animal Use in 2010

 Overview and request for information

You are unlikely to be offered most (if any) of the suggested alternatives when you take the courses concerned but, as noted, some may be offered on request. You may find that such requests receive a hostile reception, or you may be lucky and have staff who respect ethical positions on the treatment of animals.

Have you taken or tutored any of the courses which have incomplete details (highlighted in red and marked with an asterisk)? Can you let us have the required information and/or copies of the OU texts containing it? (We will be happy to cover postage costs, and to pay a modest sum for course materials if required.) Maybe you are a member of the course team, and recognise that students have a legitimate right to full details of course content, so that they can make informed choices and avoid the unnecessary distress of being confronted with painful ethical dilemmas at the 11th hour.

Please contact Vivien if you think that you can help.

 Table of animal use in courses

Course Definite/possible use of animal materials Suggested humane alternatives Other comments
S204 Home experiment kit uses ‘easily obtained materials’ *(any animal-derived?)    
SD226 Virtual dissection of brains of rats dosed with recreational drugs or saline before killing Vew scans of human brains; virtual dissection of ethically-sourced brains 9 rats were used to provide material for an infinite number of ‘dissections’ – but why look at rats re drugs used by humans?
SXR270 (a) Tissue from freshly-killed rats used to study tissue respiration using oxygen electrode Plant material[1]; CD-ROM[2] Both alternatives have been available for many years. Students have been allowed to opt out of animal experiments in this course, sometimes being given the CD-ROMs.
SXR270 (b) Tissue from freshly-killed caterpillars used to study transport of substances across gut cell membranes CD-ROMCD-ROM[3] Alternative has been available for many years. Students have been allowed to opt out of animal experiments in this course, sometimes being given the CD-ROMs.
SXR216 Involves taking and analysing field samples. *Not known if any animal harm.    
SXR376 (a) Protein and DNA will be extracted from immortalised cell lines of human and non-human origin.   No problem in principle, except that the original non-human cells will probably not have been obtained ethically.
SXR376 (b) Synthetic liquid media are supplemented with commercially available growth factors derived from animal serum. Synthetic growth factors are available[8]. *Need to know exactly which types of growth factor are used in order to investigate availability of synthetic ones. Animal serum for cell culture is usually f(o)etal calf serum (FCS). Bovine foetuses are extracted from slaughtered cows, and blood is taken direct from calf’s heart without anaesthesia, although it is likely to be still alive[8].
SXR376 (c) Animal-derived biological molecules (e.g. antibodies) will also be used Synthetic growth factors are available[8]. *Need to know exactly which antibodies and other biological molecules are used in order to investigate availability of synthetic ones. Methods of obtaining antibodies and other biological molecules from non-human animals can be stressful, harmful and often lethal. They include injecting animals with substances which cause harm[9], and using harmful blood-sampling methods[10].

Top

 Comments on SXR270

Former alternatives advisor to the Network of Individuals and Campaigns for Humane Education (NICHE, the predecessor of InterNICHE) Dr M D Brownleader wrote to SES in 1992:

"There is absolutely no reason why mitochondria isolated from plant material cannot be used to study the effect of respiratory chain inhibitors rotenone and antimycin A, and the uncoupler 2,4-DNP upon oxidative phosphorylation. The procedure...is very simple and would involve the homogenization of the tissue ... filtration ... through muslin and the subsequent centrifugation ... at 4°C for 20 min and at 10,000g ... I suggest that beet, cauliflower or potato may serve as a starting material."

See reference [1] for a detailed protocol.

Top

 Comments re SXR376

The P D F file ‘Are you ready for SXR376?’ states “As part of the pre-laboratory study, you will perform a *virtual experiment that examines the infectability of human cells to the HIV virus.” *I can find no trace of this experiment via Google or Knowledge Network.

From Freedom of Information enquiries:

We purchase a serum that is designed to support the growth of human cells in culture dishes. It is not broken down into its constituents and the exact nature of the growth factors within it are likely to vary from batch to batch and are also only known to the manufacturers.

We use antibodies that recognise the key proteins that the SXR376 course is focussed upon, these being the human CCR5 protein, the human CD4 protein and the human CCL3L1 protein. In addition we use several secondary antibodies that recognise the 3 primary antibodies, one of which is linked chemically to a molecule called biotin and the other is linked to an enzyme called horse-radish peroxidise.

The only other animal derived biological molecules are used as blocking agents during various immuno-analysis stages; bovine serum albumin (BSA), serum and (cows) milk-derived proteins.

All these products are sourced commercially.

See F o I 2009 Replies from Beverley Midwood to questions 22 and 23.

Top

 General comment

As students must complete two residential schools in order to gain a BSc (Hons) in life sciences, and only one out of the two currently-specified schools does not use animal material, this represents unwarranted discrimination against those who object to animals being harmed unnecessarily.

Top

 Dealing with resistance to your requests for alternatives

Turn the discussion around. ECVAM state: "Teachers should be aware of potential alternatives and should be required to justify their continued use of animals.”

For more information see the following websites:

InterNICHE International Network for Humane Education
NORINA The Norwegian Reference Centre for Laboratory Animal Science & Alternatives

Vivien Pomfrey MSc
Scientific Advisor
Students for Ethical Science

Top

 References

 1. Vicente, J.A.F. and Madeira, V.M.C. (2000) The excellence of turnip mitochondrial fractions, Biochemical Education vol.28 pp. 104-6.

  2. 'Cellular Respiration' by Sheffield Bioscience; details accessible at
www.sheffbp.co.uk/sbpmain.htm

 3. 'Intestinal Absorption' by Sheffield Bioscience; details accessible at
www.sheffbp.co.uk/sbpmain.htm

 4. Rousset, S., Alves-Guerra, M-C., Mozo, J., Miroux, B., Cassard-Doulcier, A-M., Bouillaud, F. and Ricquier, D. (2004) The Biology of Mitochondrial Uncoupling Proteins, Diabetes, vol. 53, pp. S130-S135, 2004, online at
diabetes.diabetesjournals.org

 5. Pinheiro, H.A., Borges, R., Pedron e Silva, M.A. and Centeno, D.C. (2004) Activity of alternative oxidase and plant uncoupling mitochondrial protein in potato tubers stored at low temperature or submitted to artificial aging, Braz. J. Plant Physiol., vol.16, no.2, Londrina May/Aug. 2004, pp. 69-76, html version at
www.scielo.br

 6. Ježek, P., Costa, A.D.T. and Vercesi, A.E. (1996) Evidence for Anion-translocating Plant Uncoupling Mitochondrial Protein in Potato Mitochondria, JBC (Journal of Biological Chemistry) Online, vol. 271, Number 51, Issue of December 20, 1996, pp. 32743-32748, online at
www.jbc.org

 7. Smith, A.M., Ratcliffe, R.G., Sweetlove, L.J., Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford (2004) Activation and function of mitochondrial uncoupling protein in plants, J. Biol. Chem., vol. 279, Issue 50, pp. 51944-51952, December 10, 2004, online at
www.jbc.org

 8. Focus on Alternatives (2009) SERUM-FREE MEDIA FOR CELL CULTURE, online at
www.focusonalternatives.org.uk

 9. CovalAb U K Antibody Production: webpage at
www.covalab.co.uk N.B. obtaining spleen cells involves killing the animals.

 10. National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research blood sampling microsite:
www.nc3rs.org.uk