Ethical questions in animal research
Today, we had the pleasure of welcoming back Adam Johnson, who used to be Head of Science at Dallam and is now a Researcher at Lancaster University’s Biomedical and Life Sciences Department and is working on an Alzheimer’s research project.
In Psychology, students study a number of key studies involving experimentation on animals. The current research at Lancaster University involves analysing brains of mice at end of their life to see any signs of Alzheimer’s.
Adam’s research provided students with an insight into the ethical concerns with regards to animal research, why we conduct it and the legislation surrounding procedures.
It is particularly important for students to understand the knowledge we gain from scientific research and how it may improve quality of life. Students study the conditioning processes involved in behaviourism and localisation of the brain, both of which were covered in Adam’s presentation.
Students were able to use microscopes to view pre-prepared microscope slides showing Alzheimer’s pathology compared to normal brain tissue.
We would like to thank Adam and Lancaster University for helping to enrich the learning of our A Level students using real-life examples.
