Research Involving Animals

Each year in the United States, at least 150,000 babies are born with serious birth defects. Nearly 40,000 babies die before reaching their first birthday. Each year in this country, more than 480,000 babies are born prematurely, and almost 300,000 are born at low birthweight. Babies born too small or too soon are much more likely to die than other babies, and those who survive are more likely to have a lifelong physical or mental disability.

The March of Dimes funds programs to help prevent birth defects and treat babies born with them. Among these programs are education, community services, advocacy, and biomedical research. Some of this research involves laboratory animals. The March of Dimes could not fulfill its mission to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects and infant death without supporting such research.

Major Advances
Virtually every major medical advance of the 20th century involved the use of animals, including antibiotics, vaccines, and treatments for diseases such as diabetes, epilepsy, asthma, and cancer. Many advances that have improved the health of children have come from March of Dimes-funded research involving animals, including:

• The vaccines for polio, which would otherwise disable or kill thousands of American children each year
• Drug treatments to replace surgery for babies with a common heart defect
• Fetal surgery for desperately ill babies still in the womb
• Drug treatment to help prevent severe newborn jaundice and resulting brain damage
• Surfactant therapy to help premature babies breathe properly
• Establishing the effectiveness of drug treatment for prevention  of transmission of the AIDS virus from mothers to babies
• Establishing nitric oxide as a treatment for critically ill preterm newborns with dangerously high blood pressure in their lungs

Finding Answers
The March of Dimes supports the use of non-animal research alternatives, including cell, tissue, and organ cultures, computer technology, epidemiologic (human population) studies, and clinical studies, whenever possible. For example, we have invested nearly $8 million in international epidemiologic studies of risk factors for premature labor. However, while non-animal alternatives can provide important clues to the origins of diseases, they cannot tell us exactly how or why these diseases occur, or how to prevent and treat them. It is impossible to find the answers to the "how" and "why" questions without studying the structure and function of a whole living system.  That is why laboratory animals are an essential part of biomedical research.

March of Dimes-funded researchers are trying to unravel the mysteries of  genetic diseases, reproduction, immunology, and development.  Most of the animals needed and used for this purpose are fruitflies, worms, fish, mice, and rats bred specifically for scientific research.  These animals have biological similarities to humans that make them useful models for human disorders.

How Grantees Are Selected
March of Dimes research grantees are selected by distinguished senior scientists and physicians affiliated with major universities and other research institutions. The March of Dimes endorses guidelines established by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the ethical treatment of humans and animals in research. These guidelines include an annual review by the grantee's own Institutional Review Board, in the case of human subjects, or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), in the case of animal subjects.

It is the responsibility of an IACUC to ensure that the work is justified, that the use of animals is appropriate, and that no practical non-animal alternatives exist. The committee also ensures proper living conditions and humane care and treatment for the animals. By law, IACUCs must include both scientists and non-scientists, as well as representatives from outside the institution; the outside members often are from humane organizations. March of Dimes research grants are awarded only to institutions that comply with these requirements, and each grant application involving animals must have the prior approval of an IACUC.

To learn more about the work of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees, visit www.iacuc.org.

To learn more about how biomedical research using animals is regulated, visit the USDA's web site.

For more information from the National Institutes of Health Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, click here.

The leading health charities in the United States, such as the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Epilepsy Foundation of America, and Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of America, all support humane and necessary medical research involving humans and/or animals.

The March of Dimes knows there are groups that oppose the use of animals in medical research. The primary concern of these groups is the animals. The primary concern of the March of Dimes is the lives and the health of babies.

For Further Reading
For further reading and facts about the need for humane and ethical medical research involving animals, visit these websites:

• Americans for Medical Progress Educational Foundation
• American Physiological Society
• Foundation for Biomedical Research
• Incurably Ill for Animal Research
• National Association for Biomedical Research
• Seriously Ill for Medical Research (in the U.K.)

Reading for Young People
Of interest to children in grades kindergarten through 6, or young people in grades 7 through 12:

• Kids4Research, sponsored by the AAALAS Foundation