Understanding Animal Research is a Mutual Society (not-for-profit organisation) that explains why animals are used in medical and scientific research. We aim to achieve a broad understanding of the humane use of animals in medical, veterinary, scientific and environmental research in the UK. We are funded by our members who include universities, professional societies, industry and charities.

Understanding Animal Research

Professor Clare Stanford is a ground breaking physiologist and champion of animal welfare. In her 2021 Paget lecture: Tortoises, hares and other animals on the pathway to antidepression, she gives a historical review of understanding and treatments for depression.

Animals on the pathway to antidepression Professor Clare Stanford 2021 Paget lecture

Two senior animal technologists show us ferrets, opossums and mice in the Crick Institute animal housing.

Behind the scenes at the Crick Institute

The Macaque monkeys used for research in Oxford are provided with different sorts of food to make their lives more interesting. In this clip we see seed lollipops 'enriching' the monkeys routine. You can look around where the monkeys live in this 360 tour: http://labanimaltour.org/oxford

Seed lollipops for monkeys

Factsheet on the forced swim test available here: https://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/files/4216/0275/6025/FST_fact_sheet_-_final.pdf

The forced swim test is a behavioural test which assesses the efficacy of potential antidepressant treatments. It involves putting a rat or mouse into a small tank of water, from which it cannot escape. The water is heated to between 25 and 30 degrees Centigrade to ensure that the animals do not develop hypothermia, which would affect their welfare and the findings from the test. After a few minutes of swimming around and trying to climb out of the tank, the animal stops trying to escape and instead floats in the water, moving occasionally to keep floating.

The test typically lasts around five to six minutes, after which the animal is lifted out. It is not left in the water until the point of exhaustion. Rats and mice are naturally buoyant but if at any point during the test the animal were to look as though it were struggling to stay afloat, it would be taken out of the water.

The length of time that the animal was active and then floating (‘immobile’) in the water is recorded. Additional behaviours including swimming and climbing may also be recorded. Antidepressants make stressed animals move more than they would if they had not been given an antidepressant, so if the animal has been given an antidepressant treatment prior to the test it will spend more time swimming and less time floating. Animals that have not been given an antidepressant treatment (known as ‘controls’) or animals given a treatment that does not have antidepressant properties will spend less time swimming and more time floating.

By comparing the swimming and floating times of the dosed animals and the control animals, researchers can tell whether or not a potential new antidepressant is likely to be an effective treatment in depressed patients. If a potential treatment works in these animals, it can then go on to further stages of testing.

Forced Swim Test

Mice, rabbits, frogs and sheep – each took their turn in the development of pregnancy tests.

You want to know if you are pregnant or not? Easy, right? Just buy a cheap and reliable kit from the chemist or supermarket and get an instant answer from a quick urine test in the comfort of your own home. But it wasn’t always so easy. In fact, the creation of the reliable pregnancy tests that benefit so many women, and that now cost just a few pounds, was a scientific battle that was only won thanks to a great deal of animal research and the determination of one extraordinary women. http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/news/research-medical-benefits/animal-research-and-pregnancy-testing-a-history/

History of pregnancy testing

Learn about the behaviour of rats and how they are cared for in UK laboratories in our new video for World Rat Day. 
Look around Manchester lab here: https://www.manchester.ac.uk/medialibrary/degreeprogrammes/animal-unit-tour/#node6

More info here: http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/news/research-medical-benefits/10-years-of-rat-research-how-stroke-studies-have-evolved/ 
https://nc3rs.org.uk/news/tickling-rats-social-enrichment-improve-rodent-welfare 
http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/animals/10-facts/rat/

Understanding Animal Research

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