When someone asks, “What do you do?”; how do you reply, if you happen to work in an IACUC office, are a member, or work in an animal research facility? Do you describe your daily work, or try to anticipate a person’s reaction to your chosen field, and minimize the fact that you support animal research? No matter what the general public has heard about biomedical research, we all have a much more hands on and somewhat personal experience than most.
One way to help others understand what we do is to show them. While it is not really practical to bring your friends on a tour of a mouse facility, there are several helpful resources available to educate people. In our video-on-demand age, seeing is believing. There are numerous videos available that show cruelty to animals, many more than ones that promote or show the positive side of animal research. I have used several online videos to inform those interested in research on what really goes on in an animal facility. Here are several free ones that may be of interest:
From a UCLA/Cedars Sinai animal facility
A day in the life of an animal technician
A day in the life of an animal facility manager
The 3 R’s
