October 13, 2015

questioning the quality of animal research

Animal studies are a vital part of scientific endeavour, particularly for clinical trials, but it is vital that the information gleaned from them is robust and that animals are not being put through unnecessary procedures. Researchers have been doing a systematic review of trials and assessed them for their statistical robustness.

The research, published in PLoS Biology, looks at issues such as randomisation and blinding which increase rigour and reduce the risk of bias.

Two of the authors came along to the Science Media Centre to discuss:

• Are we able to trust the results from all these trials?
• Does this mean that some trials need to be re-done?
• Will animals have been put through unnecessary procedures or have been used in sub-standard research?
• What has been the impact of the ARRIVE guidelines for animal trials?
• What, if anything, should the scientific community be doing in the future?

Roundup comments accompanied this briefing.

Speakers:

Dr Emily Sena, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh

Prof. Malcolm Macleod, Professor of Neurology and Translational Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh