Transcriber: Carlos Arturo Morales Reviewer: Ariana Bleau Lugo
Hello and thank you for having me.
Like Ben said, my name is Sarah Olson.
I'm a UDub sophomore and I run CARE,
the Campus Animal Rights Educator's club on campus.
This talk was inspired by my animal activism at UDub
and now I would like to share my idea with you.
This is Coco.
He was my best little friend for six years.
From him I learned the importance of compassion,
devotion and an organic diet,
and never to be afraid to ask for what you need,
which in his case was lots of fresh veggies and attention,
a need he made known by constant chirping
the moment you came in the door.
Animals like Coco, full of love and intelligence,
are used and euthanized in labs regularly.
We need more humane bio-medical research to save them.
A commitment to the finding and development of alternatives
to animal research models is vital for these animals.
And this is my grandfather.
He died 13 years ago due to prostate cancer.
He was an esteemed American history professor at Oberlin College
and I wish everyday that I could share my college experience with him.
People like my grandfather
with endless insight to bring to this world,
leave us too soon every day.
We need more effective biomedical research to save them.
A commitment to the finding and development of alternatives
to animal research models are vital for this people.
And why do I believe in the power of alternatives?
Well, I grew up with bottles of mouse brains all around my house.
My father is a pediatric oncologist
and constantly leaving his research open
on the family computer or on the dining room table.
And I'm telling you, if you want your vegan teenager
to spend less time on the computer, this is your solution.
Obviously, my father and I have and interesting dynamic.
We've both made great strides in areas that we feel passionate about.
For him, fighting cancer, and for me, fighting animal oppression.
And I know we will contiue to fight for these things until the day that we die.
But what does this mean for our everyday interacitons?
How do we relate when our interests
are so seemingly pitted against one another?
We came to the answer recently.
We came to the conclusion there is an urgent and pressing need
for the finding and development of alternatives.
And we need more effective research models.
Currently, nine out of ten drugs that proved effective in animal models
failed in human clinical trials.
And Francis Collins, Director of the National Institute
of Health Human Genome Project
admits that animal toxicity tests in the past
have been expensive, time consuming,
used animal in large numbers and didn't always work.
We need better models not only to save animals lives
but to save human lives as well.
More precise research models
have the power to drastically improve and advance
biomedical research to the point where we have more realiable
and readily available medicines for the people in our lives.
And better models are already being created.
My favorite example is Harvard's Wyss Institute Organs-on-Chips.
These microchips, about the size of a flash drive,
are composed of clear flexible polymer
containing hollow channels lined with real human cells.
They simulate the microarchitecture and function of living human organs
such as the lungs, heart and intestines
and hope to replace one day the use of animals in science.
The Wyss Institute created these chips due to the fact that it can take years
and up to two million dollars to test single drug compounds.
Meanwhile animals lives are lost
and often fail to replicate human responses
as traditional animal models do not accurately mimic human physiology.
The Institute hopes to build ten of these chips, link them together,
and mimic whole body physiology.
This would allow for real time assessment of culture tissues,
new drugs assessment and toxicity tests.
They believe that these chips could be a viable alternative
to animal use in the future.
They could be a viable alternative to animal use in the future.
And we should all make the commitment
to ask our leaders to invest in alternatives
because medicine plays a role in all our lives.
It's a challenge, but I say, "We go for it"
for the sake of medical progress and for the sake of countless souls
lost in animal research every day.
It should take priority to ask our leaders for this,
and while it may not happen overnight,
and it will take years of brain power and hard work,
we need to make these commitments due to the fact
that the FDA still requires that certain classes of drugs
be tested on animals before moving to human clinical trials.
It should take priority to create models so reliable
that the FDA can change these regulations.
Recently, I began to make a list of ways
in which anti-animal lab activism could become more effective
and more inclusive to all types of people.
First, we have to ditch
the "evil scientist meets crazy activist" dichotomy.
It get us nowhere.
We need to leave these stereotypes behind
in order for progress and colaboration to be made.
A recognition that scientists are equally as passionate about their work
as activists are about saving animal lives is vital,
and that neither passion is inherently malicious.
And furthermore, these stereotypes are often just plain wrong.
If all activists are crazy and all scientists are evil,
then my family just got way more disfunctional.
And secondly, we need to understand that asking institutional decision makers
to shut down animal research programs may feel to them
as though they're being asked to put their institution at a disadvantage.
If we as scientists, activists and citizens,
come together and ask institutions for alternatives
in addition to a reductional halt in animal use,
we are no longer asking decision makers
to solely make an ethical decision,
but to make a scientifically progressive decision as well.
My hope is that my university will not sacrifice our reputation
as a world leader in science,
but rather enhance it by investing in alternatives
and subsequently reducing animal numbers.
Alternatives can and should be a marker of scientific excellence,
and a goal that all scientific institutions should strive towards.
And finally, we have to leave behind the widely believed notions
that animal models are highly predictive
of what would happen in human clinical trials.
This simply isn't true.
In any other industry there would be
no tolerance for the low quality predictions that these models provide.
And yet scientists continue to use these models,
because the stakes are so high in finding cures,
It's currently believed that animal models are the best method available.
Let's change this.
Let's make the best methods available actually be the best they can be,
highly reliable and state-of-the-art.
In this sense, a commitment to alternatives
is beneficial to scientists, activists, patients and animals alike.
And if up to us to ask for it!
My hope is that my university will commit an annual budget
to the finding and developemt of alternatives to animal research.
And my hope is that labs and universities across the nation will follow us soon.
My hope is that scientists and activists will come together to show the world
that animal activism can be scientific progress
and that through these efforts,
such reliable alternatives would be created
that the FDA will no require animal testing or research
under any circunstances.
What are your hopes?
What are your dreams for the future of the lab animals and for finding cures?
This is a pivotal moment in the history of biomedical science.
Will you join me in moving forward?
Thank you.
(Applause)