You are a member of your university’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and you have received an application for an animal research study. The researcher would like to determine if a new drug may reduce symptoms of fibromyalgia, a chronic pain disorder, and proposes studying 100 monkeys using procedures that will cause moderate pain. A federal agency has reviewed a grant proposal submitted by the researcher and found the work to have high scientific value. Provide questions or comments for your review of the application that includes each of the 3Rs and an ethical cost assessment.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Ans: The 3Rs consists of replacement, reduction, and refinement. For replacement, one may ask if a computer simulation, studies using cells, or studies using invertebrates may be used instead. For reduction, one may ask if these studies can be conducted in fewer animals. For refinement, one may ask if less painful procedures could be used for if a pain-relieving medication could be provided. The ethical cost can be justified if the work will lead to important gains in the scientific field, although making the procedures less painful would lower the ethical cost of these studies.