Cost: benefit evaluations for research protocols.

摘要

Dr. Mattie Rosinski researched the effects of cigarette smoking on health. Over the years, she and her colleagues had studied various nitrosamines, nicotine, smoking cessation aids and other substances, primarily using mice as animal models. Rosinski's most recent IACUC application proposed to use nearly 200 mice to investigate cellular stress in response to tobacco smoke exposure. The protocol clearly described the rationale for the study, the need for live animals, a statistical justification for the numbers of mice in each study group and so forth. The protocol also stated that it was critically necessary to wait until the animals started to exhibit moderately severe clinical signs of distress from broncho-alveolar irritation from tobacco smoke exposure before euthanizing them. The protocol described in some detail the clinical signs to be monitored and the reasons why an earlier study endpoint could not be used.