A Kenyan perspective on the use of animals in science education and scientific research in Africa and prospects for improvement

Introduction: Animal experimentation is common in Africa, a region that accords little priority on animal protection in comparison to economic and social development. The current study aimed at investigating the prevalence of animal experimentation in Kenya, and to review shortfalls in policy, legislation, implementation and enforcement that result in inadequate animal care in Kenya and other African nations. Methods: Data was collected using questionnaires, administered at 39 highly ranked academic and research institutions aiming to identify those that used animals, their sources of animals, and application of the three Rs. Perceived challenges to the use of non-animal alternatives and common methods of euthanasia were also queried. Data was analyzed using Epidata, SPSS 16.0 and Microsoft Excel. Results: Thirty-eight (97.4%) of thirty-nine institutions reported using animals for education and/or research. Thirty (76.9%) institutions reported using analgesics or anesthetics on a regular basis. Thirteen (33.3%) institutions regularly used statistical methods to minimize the use of animals. Overall, sixteen (41.0%) institutions explored the use of alternatives to animals such as cell cultures and computer simulation techniques, with one (2.6%) academic institution having completely replaced animals with computer modeling, manikins and visual illustrations. The commonest form of euthanasia employed was chloroform administration, reportedly in fourteen (29.8%) of 47 total methods (some institutions used more than one method). Twenty-eight (71.8%) institutions had no designated ethics committee to review or monitor protocols using animals. Conclusion: Animals are commonly used in academic and research institutions in Kenya. The relative lack of ethical guidance and oversight regarding the use of animals in research and education presents significant concerns

Bird Flu Spreading to Farmed Mammals in the US

The more mammalian species infected by bird flu, the greater the threat of a new pandemic

A Belmont Report for Animals?

Human and animal research both operate within established standards. In the United States, criticism of the human research environment and recorded abuses of human research subjects served as the impetus for the establishment of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, and the resulting Belmont Report. The Belmont Report established key ethical principles to which human research should adhere: respect for autonomy, obligations to beneficence and justice, and special protections for vulnerable individuals and populations. While current guidelines appropriately aim to protect the individual interests of human participants in research, no similar, comprehensive, and principled effort has addressed the use of (nonhuman) animals in research. Although published policies regarding animal research provide relevant regulatory guidance, the lack of a fundamental effort to explore the ethical issues and principles that should guide decisions about the potential use of animals in research has led to unclear and disparate policies. Here, we explore how the ethical principles outlined in the Belmont Report could be applied consistently to animals. We describe how concepts such as respect for autonomy and obligations to beneficence and justice could be applied to animals, as well as how animals are entitled to special protections as a result of their vulnerability

A Low-Fat Vegan Diet Elicits Greater Macronutrient Changes, but Is Comparable in Adherence and Acceptability, Compared with a More Conventional Diabetes Diet among Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes

Although therapeutic diets are critical to diabetes management, their acceptability to patients is largely unstudied

D2 dopamine receptor Taq1A polymorphism, body weight, and dietary intake in type 2 diabetes

Certain D2 dopamine receptor Taq 1A genotypes (A1A1, A1A2) have been associated with obesity and substance abuse. We hypothesized that their presence would be associated with reduced efficacy of dietary interventions in individuals with type 2 diabetes

Ethical and Scientific Considerations Regarding Animal Testing and Research

In 1959, William Russell and Rex Burch published the seminal book, The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique, which emphasized reduction, refinement, and replacement of animal use, principles which have since been referred to as the ‘‘3 Rs’’. These principles encouraged researchers to work to reduce the number of animals used in experiments to the minimum considered necessary, refine or limit the pain and distress to which animals are exposed, and replace the use of animals with non-animal alternatives when possible. Despite the attention brought to this issue by Russell and Burch and since, the number of animals used in research and testing has continued to increase, raising serious ethical and scientific issues. Further, while the ‘‘3 Rs’’ capture crucially important concepts, they do not adequately reflect the substantial developments in our new knowledge about the cognitive and emotional capabilities of animals, the individual interests of animals, or an updated understanding of potential harms associated with animal research. This Overview provides a brief summary of the ethical and scientific considerations regarding the use of animals in research and testing, and accompanies a Collection entitled Animals, Research, and Alternatives: Measuring Progress 50 Years Later, which aims to spur ethical and scientific advancement

Genome-Wide Association Studies in an Isolated Founder Population from the Pacific Island of Kosrae

It has been argued that the limited genetic diversity and reduced allelic heterogeneity observed in isolated founder populations facilitates discovery of loci contributing to both Mendelian and complex disease. A strong founder effect, severe isolation, and substantial inbreeding have dramatically reduced genetic diversity in natives from the island of Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia, who exhibit a high prevalence of obesity and other metabolic disorders. We hypothesized that genetic drift and possibly natural selection on Kosrae might have increased the frequency of previously rare genetic variants with relatively large effects, making these alleles readily detectable in genome-wide association analysis. However, mapping in large, inbred cohorts introduces analytic challenges, as extensive relatedness between subjects violates the assumptions of independence upon which traditional association test statistics are based. We performed genome-wide association analysis for 15 quantitative traits in 2,906 members of the Kosrae population, using novel approaches to manage the extreme relatedness in the sample. As positive controls, we observe association to known loci for plasma cholesterol, triglycerides, and C-reactive protein and to a compelling candidate loci for thyroid stimulating hormone and fasting plasma glucose. We show that our study is well powered to detect common alleles explaining ≥5% phenotypic variance. However, no such large effects were observed with genome-wide significance, arguing that even in such a severely inbred population, common alleles typically have modest effects. Finally, we show that a majority of common variants discovered in Caucasians have indistinguishable effect sizes on Kosrae, despite the major differences in population genetics and environment

A silent call for a socially and ecologically just One Health approach

Abstract In 1962, the world began reading biologist Rachel Carson’s warnings of a silent spring, which challenged the claim that humans are separate from nature. Carson wrote of a hidden danger—a synthetic insecticide known as DDT—threatening human and nonhuman lives. She warned of how birdless skies and fishless waterways foreshadowed what could happen to humans—ultimately ushering in an environmental movement and a transformation in national and international policy. One Health Impact Statement This article is an invited commentary that illustrates the need for a socially and ecologically just One Health approach and how the author arrived at this evidence-based view throughout her own medical and public health career