In a letter published online yesterday (June 20) in USA Today, 592 members of the scientific community called for research institutions to be transparent about their animal studies.
“We should proudly explain how animals are used for the advancement of science and medicine, in the interest of the wellbeing of humans and animals,” the signatories write, noting the work influences surgery, drug development, and basic research.
Such animal studies rely on public support and public funding, which is why the scientists are calling for transparency, according to the letter. Students, lab technicians, veterinarians, physicians, and public policy experts, along with scientists—including Nobel Prize winners William Campbell, Mario Capecchi, Carol Greider, and Torsten Wiesel—signed the letter, according to Science.
“I read the letter and decided within minutes that I would sign it,” Greider, a Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine biologist and 2009 Nobel laureate, tells Science. “Animal research is very ...
