The BUAV has submitted evidence to the Academy of Medical Sciences (AMS) call concerning the use of “humanised animals” in research. The AMS is conducting a 12 to 18 month study on the use of animals in scientific research who contain human genetic material. This most commonly involves the production of genetically modified animals. The stated goals of the study are “…to uncover the real views of the public” of such experiments.

When the call was issued in Nov 2009, the BUAV criticised the study for its apparent bias. The AMS appear to have already decided that the production of “humanised animals” is a scientific “success” and only wanted to receive evidence to support this assumption. The BUAV’s scientific consultant Dr Jarrod Bailey, a geneticist, states in our submission that; “We are concerned that the background to this consultation is one of imbalance and bias, because the crucial issue of the scientific validity and human relevance of GM-animal experimentation appears to have been unquestioningly accepted.”(1)

The evidence we have provided constitutes a summary of seven key papers in which the scientific validity of humanised animals is questioned. One concludes that "In our opinion, the current extent to which GA mice are used cannot be justified on the basis that they are vital for the development of human medicines, since few human medicines have so far been developed which were largely or exclusively based on the use of GA mouse models. This unsatisfactory situation is despite nearly four decades of studies in GA mice." (2) Another paper concludes that “Mice are lousy models for clinical studies”, and that “we need to place more emphasis on human studies, and make greater efforts to allow it to flourish.”(3)

We also provided reports that describe the dire welfare consequences of breeding animals with human diseases. For example, a BUAV report called ‘Designer Mice’ noted that “To date a vast array of sick, disabled and deformed mice have been produced as ‘models’ of human disease. These include mice carrying a variety of different tumours, mice who show poliomyelitis-like symptoms which include muscle wasting, flaccid paralysis and eventual failure of the muscles involved with breathing, mice exhibiting bone and limb deformities, cleft palate and jaw bone deformities…”(4)

We look forward to the conclusions of the Academy’s report.

(1) BUAV submission to the Academy of Sciences call for evidence on the use of humanised animals. 1st February 2009. Available on request from info@buav.org

(2) The relevance of genetically altered mouse models of human disease. Alternatives to Laboratory Animals 34: 429-454. 2006.

(3) Davis, M.M. (2008). A prescription for human immunology. Immunity 29, 835-838.

(4) Designer Mice: the use of genetically modified animals in experiments. BUAV special report, 2002. Available on request from info@buav.org