• Question: Do you harm animals in your research?

    Asked by anon-175278 to Thomas, hayleypincott, David, Alison, Alex on 12 Jun 2018. This question was also asked by anon-175283.
    • Photo: Alison Hughes

      Alison Hughes answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      I do not use animals in my research, I study microalgae which are similar to plants. The use of animals in research is a really difficult topic to understand. I absolutely love animals, and would hate to see them harmed in any way. Unfortunately, in order to understand how something (for example a medicine) effects the whole body, which is very complicated, we must use animals models because we do not understand everything that happens in the human body and how it will react. There are really strict guidelines in the UK on what researchers are allowed to do to animals and they must follow ethical rules to minimise any pain the animal may feel.

    • Photo: David Mills

      David Mills answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      I don’t work with animals myself, but some of the materials I scan for other people’s projects are from animals.
      I understand that sometimes animals have to be used for research when developing new procedures and treatments. There are very very strict rules and guidelines on how animals can be used and treated. All researchers have to abide by these.

    • Photo: Hayley Pincott

      Hayley Pincott answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      I don’t out do research but I work very closely with researchers who use animals. I know that there are very strict rules about the way the animal is treated and how the animal is used. It’s a very difficult subject however the researchers who do use animals believe that you, me or everybody will one day benefit from the results from the research being carried out.

    • Photo: Thomas Perriment

      Thomas Perriment answered on 13 Jun 2018:

      Not a bit! I work with ecologists and environmental specialists to make sure that their habitats aren’t affected by the work that we do.

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