the cognitive dissonance from people who want the products of modern medicine but get weird about animal research. like im sorry but this is necessary for the survival of the society we currently live in. and the scientists who work on these things are not evil cackling psychopaths. anyone you talk to in animal research has incredibly complex feelings about their work and incredibly complex relationships to the animals in their care. there are regulations and oversight and penalties in place to make the work as humane as possible and scientists are overwhelmingly the ones enforcing and advocating for better care.
Finally, it has begun!! The rainbow trout are all grown and it’s time to give them a little spin in the swimming respirometer. This girl was understandably pretty shocked about being measured and weighed but she quickly recovered once in the respirometer — the fish is swimming against a certain water flow (here it’s about half a body length per second) and she seemed to immediately realise what to do. My supervisor explained that in earlier experiments with brown trout, the brown trout were more prone to not swimming at all and laying on the net in the back, but rainbow trout are more cooperative and raring to go!
So I just read this letter to the editor regarding the situation with the Oregon National Primare Research Center, and animal research funding in general. This particular researcher studies malaria, a disease which in 2024 infected 282 million people and killed six hundred and ten thousand. But you don't exactly need me to tell you that malaria is bad, or that research on a malaria vaccine is lifesaving.
What I want to impress on you is that this is just ONE of the many critical, lifesaving research projects being threatened under the DHHS' preparations to "move away from animal testing." I want to remind you that we don't yet HAVE suitable alternatives to live animal testing for many of these projects. The plans to phase out animal testing WILL lead to a catastrophic death toll from research cancellation and delay. That's not a "might happen", thats a "will happen."
I know animal testing is distasteful at the best of times, but I urge you to remember the human cost of cutting such research. Make your voice heard on the subject, especially if you live in Oregon or any of the other areas that host a national primate research center. Remember also that RFK Jr's talk about converting these research centers into "sanctuaries" has been almost entirely lip service, as the NIH has offered little to no support for the transition or upkeep of these facilities into such sanctuaries.
