All research methodologies have their challenges. Molecular markers are finicky. Designing human studies is fraught with red tape. And getting neural cultures to grow can seem to require as much luck as skill. But for those of us involved in animal-based research, there is an extra dimension of difficulty: the ethical one. No matter how important the research, performing experiments on animals can stir up some conflicted feelings on the morality of such a method.  This only intensifies when studying the brain, the very seat of what these animals are and how (or how much) they think and feel. Even the staunchest believer in the rightness of animal research still has to contend with the fact that a decent portion of society finds what they do unethical. It is not a trivial issue and shouldn’t be treated as such.

But, like with our use of animals for food, clothing, and a variety of other needs, experimenting on animals dates back millennia. The first recorded cases came from ancient Greece and have continued ever since. Now while historical precedent is not sufficient evidence of ethicality, the history of animal testing does allow us to recognize the great advances that can come from it. Nearly all of our tools of modern medicine, our knowledge about learning and behavior and our standards for food safety and nutrition would be gone with the absence of animal research. I certainly wouldn’t be writing a blog called Neurdiness, because Neuroscience wouldn’t exist as a field. It is clear that animal testing has proven crucial to the advancement of our society, and perhaps even to its very survival. And that value cannot be overlooked or underappreciated when having a discussion about morality.

So, we seem to come to an impasse. The instinctive distaste for replacing freedom with suffering in animals is pitted against the knowledge that this practice will prevent suffering in humans. And how to equate the two is unclear. Is an effective treatment for Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s worth the lives of countless rats, mice, and pigs? What about the potential for such a treatment? Does our desire to understand higher cognitive functions—which may not lead directly to medical advances, but could change our notions of who we are and how we think—justify experiments on non-human primates, the only animals from which we can glean such information?  Beliefs exist at either extreme: so-called “abolitionists” claim no exploitation of animals is ever justified, while at the other end is the feeling that animals lack moral standing and their needs are thus subordinate to those of humans.

Personally, I view the use of animals in research as something of a necessary evil. For the majority of human history, people felt free to capture, kill, or enslave animals for a variety of purposes. For food, for powering agricultural tools, for transportation, for materials. We’ve since outgrown the need to use animals for many of these things, but before modern technology their use seemed perfectly justified and even required. Indeed, civilization would be nothing like it is now without our willingness to utilize animals. The present state of neuroscience research is something like that of early humans. I’m vegan because the state of modern food production and distribution means I can be healthy without harming animals. But I’m an animal researcher because in the present state of Neuroscience I know we cannot progress the field without them. We don’t yet have the technology to free ourselves of a dependence on animals, and our ability to reach that point requires their continued use.

Working in this moral gray zone leaves many neuroscientists feeling uneasy about discussing their methodology with the general public. Of course divulging any specific details about animal suppliers or where the animals are housed, etc. is dangerous due to the risk of it falling into the wrong hands, but speaking openly about engaging in animal research should not be outside the realm of comfort of a researcher. The right balance of ensuring safety while still defending your position is clearly a hard one to strike (as the results of this Nature survey suggest). But the voices of scientists involved in the work is crucially needed in the public debate and thus the proper practices need to be established by research institutions so as to disallow the prevention of this participation by fear.

Of course the best way to encourage support for the use of animals in your research is to ensure that you’re doing good science. To most people, animal research is acceptable on the grounds that its providing a significant benefit and experimenters need to keep this mandate in mind. Importantly, doing good science also means adhering to the guidelines for proper care and treatment of laboratory animals. Those concerned about the treatment of animals in labs would be happy to know that there are a plethora of agencies overlooking the design of animal experiments, how animals are housed, and ensuring that the least amount of pain is inflicted as possible (an extensive list of related resources can be found here). An important tenet is the “three R’s” of animal testing. This framework, first put forward by Russell and Burch in 1959, urges reduction (use only the amount of animals needed to significantly verify a finding, and use them wisely and carefully so as to reduce unneeded waste), refinement (use the most humane housing, anesthetic, and experimental techniques available, avoiding invasive and painful procedures if possible), and replacement (seek alternatives to animal use whenever possible; options include culturing tissues in a dish, computational modeling, and the use of lower animals or plant life). Adhering to such rules and guidelines from over-seeing agencies is important for both the continued operation of a lab as well the maintaining a good public perception. Furthermore, the proper treatment of lab animals is not merely a means of appeasing animal rights activists; it is crucial for attaining accurate results, especially in neuroscience. It is known that physical and psychological stress can have huge impacts on the brain and an unhealthy animal is likely to produce unreliable results. Additionally, keeping in line with proper practices can reduce the unease that a researcher may feel about their work with animals.

In the realm of neuroscience, animal research is, in no uncertain terms, a necessity. But at the same time, we are making strides in the implementation of the three R’s, specifically with replacement. The ability to grow neural cultures is widely used when appropriate. Realizing the potential of lower animals to answer questions normally posed to higher ones is also a promising trend. For instance, social behavior in flies and decision-making in rodents are being explored to a greater extent. Computational modeling is also becoming ever more utilized, and while it is far from fully replacing an animal, it can at least predict which experiments have the most potential to be of use, thus reducing wasteful animal use And with time, and the refinement of all these techniques, animals will continue to be used more wisely and with less frequency. So, if researchers don’t become too myopic or complacent, and continue to view their work in the larger ethical context, designing experiments to reduce moral dilemmas, then we can progress in a way that is both humane and fruitful.

Editors (2011). Animal rights and wrongs Nature, 470 (7335), 435-435 DOI: 10.1038/470435a