I never understood how some Biology majors...
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well lots of bio people don't work with animals. they work with cells and whatnot.
I don't understand whats hard to understand about that.
Just because someone is interested in biology doesn't mean they enjoy killing animals. In fact I would think that the more you know about an animal the harder it would be to kill it.
Just because someone is interested in biology doesn't mean they enjoy killing animals. In fact I would think that the more you know about an animal the harder it would be to kill it.
river-wind
Valued Senior Member
I hate disection animals- I refused to dissect the frog in HS because there was no reason to do it my mind. I didn't learn anything more than I already knew. I knew what the insides of a frog looks like, how they wwere layed out, what the frog's connective tissue felt like, etc. so what is the point of it? I would have been pointlessly killing an animal in an attempt to learn things I already knew. When it came time to dissect the fetal pig, however, I did it, because it could teach me things I did not know. I said a prayer for the Pig's spirit before I started, though (just in case). My partner thought I was losing it. 
if you are going into molecular biology, knowing anatomy is useful. how much more info do you get from dissection than you could get from books/virtual tutorials?
If you are going into vetranary school, hands on knowledge of animal anatomy is crutial prior to working on a live patient. Dissection is much more usefull in this feild than in the above.
Why not send the students who want to do dissections to a farm, where the material harvested after the dissection could be *used* for something? Why is shielding the students from the death of the animal they are dessecting helpful? so they can dispassionatly learn the fuction, without learning the purpose? What sort of Doctors do we create that way?
if you are going into molecular biology, knowing anatomy is useful. how much more info do you get from dissection than you could get from books/virtual tutorials?
If you are going into vetranary school, hands on knowledge of animal anatomy is crutial prior to working on a live patient. Dissection is much more usefull in this feild than in the above.
Why not send the students who want to do dissections to a farm, where the material harvested after the dissection could be *used* for something? Why is shielding the students from the death of the animal they are dessecting helpful? so they can dispassionatly learn the fuction, without learning the purpose? What sort of Doctors do we create that way?
disecting is a skill and the more you do it the better you are at it. You might end up in a lab where you have to do quite a lot of disecting, even though the main work is molecular. Learning anatomy is therefore not the only reason to disect. It also builds experience and confidence in disecting.
Some people have more talent for it than others do. So maybe some people shouldn't even bother.
Some people have more talent for it than others do. So maybe some people shouldn't even bother.
Even molecular biologists use animals in their research!
For instance, the lab that I work in focuses on NK cells. There is a large population of NK cells in the liver( they are lymphocytes) so the researchers have to sacrifice mice in order to obtain the liver and isolate the NK cells. We also use mice to inject MCMV in them to study the effects of the virus in certain strains of mice, particularly those that lack a gene complex encoded for the NK receptors required for resistance.
Hope that made sense heh, sorry I just woke up from a nap.
But the point is, maybe you should look for another career path if you don't think animals shouldn't be part of the equation.
I also had a classmate who couldn't even observe with the rest of the class the dissecting procedure of a rat in preparation for histogical and histochemical studies, as well as preparation for the transmission electron microscopy. She had to leave the room! I just don't understand. Maybe it is just me.
I'm forgetting another story, gah! It's been a long week. More to come...
For instance, the lab that I work in focuses on NK cells. There is a large population of NK cells in the liver( they are lymphocytes) so the researchers have to sacrifice mice in order to obtain the liver and isolate the NK cells. We also use mice to inject MCMV in them to study the effects of the virus in certain strains of mice, particularly those that lack a gene complex encoded for the NK receptors required for resistance.
Hope that made sense heh, sorry I just woke up from a nap.
But the point is, maybe you should look for another career path if you don't think animals shouldn't be part of the equation.
I also had a classmate who couldn't even observe with the rest of the class the dissecting procedure of a rat in preparation for histogical and histochemical studies, as well as preparation for the transmission electron microscopy. She had to leave the room! I just don't understand. Maybe it is just me.
I'm forgetting another story, gah! It's been a long week. More to come...
sacrifices
I have to admit that I do not enjoy sacrificing animals. But I accept that it must be done to advance knowledge. I have thus far choosen to do research that does not require vertebrate sacrifices (or at least very infrequently). I know vegetarians who kill mice daily, it's a matter of priority for them.
I would not argue that animal research abolished, I have just chosen thus far to limit my personal participation.
I have to admit that I do not enjoy sacrificing animals. But I accept that it must be done to advance knowledge. I have thus far choosen to do research that does not require vertebrate sacrifices (or at least very infrequently). I know vegetarians who kill mice daily, it's a matter of priority for them.
I would not argue that animal research abolished, I have just chosen thus far to limit my personal participation.
How would people respond to sacrificing human lives to advance research? This is directly aimed at the people who post at this message board, so I want your honest opinions, not those of the general public. I'm pretty sure I know how the public would answer in general.
L
LogicalAtheist
Guest
(My first post, hello all). It's like the amount of medical students who feel weird about seeing a dead body. Your interest won't determin your neurological reactions. Furthermore, it's evidence that peoples negative neurological reactions don't always shape their outcomes.
I would feel a bit odd slicing someone open with a knife. I'd do it, and after a while it'll be second nature.
I would feel a bit odd slicing someone open with a knife. I'd do it, and after a while it'll be second nature.
I'm all for human subjects. The more of them the better. I'd rather be cutting up humans than livestock, although it's easier to work on something smaller like a pig. I think dissection is an essential skill for all biologists to have regardless of area of expertise. You have to dissect a drosophila egg to get to the chromosomes. But I digress. Hurray for killing humans!
Thank god most of my work involves a computer! The worst I have ever done was lyses a brooth of bacteria.
I guess my problem is that the sight of blood makes me ill, so its no red blooded animal manipulation for me!
I guess my problem is that the sight of blood makes me ill, so its no red blooded animal manipulation for me!
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I'm glad you like that sort of work. Computer based research is a hot field right now and they're learning so much. The info is practically limitless.
I prefer good old bench work.
It's going to take both old fashioned lab work and computer analysis to make sense of it all.
Do you have to quote everything I say?