Dr. Bruce Hampton, an orthopedic surgeon, was a high-energy researcher who always had a new project on the horizon. Hampton had been using rabbits as his animal model for nearly two decades. The cost of purchasing and housing rabbits was increasing every year, whereas his federal grant funding was moving in the opposite direction. To compensate for this discrepancy, Hampton decided to try to develop a rat model of the orthopedic condition he was studying. The process he proposed to the Great Eastern University IACUC was to use five rats in a pilot study to determine whether the surgical modifications he made on rabbit femurs could be duplicated and remain effective in the smaller animal model. If the surgical procedures proved to be effective, he then would move ahead with the various treatment methods that he was studying.
At the next full committee meeting of the IACUC, Hampton's protocol was presented by Dr. Alex Burke. Burke pointed out some minor inconsistencies, but overall, he strongly supported Hampton's plan for developing a new, efficacious and much less expensive animal model. Only one IACUC member questioned the proposed new model, asking why five rats had to be subjected to a major survival surgical procedure when there already was a perfectly acceptable model for Hampton to use. The response from Burke was that without the new model, Hampton might not have sufficient funds to continue his research, and that in any case, a new animal model is always a welcome addition to the research armamentarium.
What is your opinion? Should the IACUC consider the cost of using rabbits as a factor in its discussion of Hampton's protocol? Should the rationale for the development of the rat model be based on its possible need to sustain Hampton's research, or is the general concept of having a second model available a sufficient reason?
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Silverman, J. Rationale for new model development. Lab Anim 43, 81 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/laban.477
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/laban.477
