Matching Items (4)
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- All Subjects: Animal Testing
- Creators: Beiner, Susan
- Creators: Heywood, William
Description
There is a wide intersection where animal and human lives interact or mimic each other behaviorally or biologically. A lot of the products that are part of our day-to-day were first validated by animals, and eventually found their way to us. From food to beauty products to scientific developments, animals deal with a lot behind the scenes. Some humans are cognizant of what is happening backstage, while others only see the final presentation. Either way, all of us have our opinions in support or against animal treatment. The project is heavily inspired from my experience in a neurorehabilitation lab, so the foundation is similar to the structure and function of neurons. Through this project, I am focusing on one aspect of this debate, which is animal testing in the scietific setting. The goal of the project is not to force the viewer to choose one side, but to understand the big picture and the reasoning of the opposing side.
ContributorsSharma, Bhavya (Author) / Beiner, Susan (Thesis director) / Roberson, Robert (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Animal testing is a social issue often forgotten because it does not directly affect the individual on a daily basis. I believe animal testing is an important issue to combat because these animals cannot speak for themselves. I focused the entirety of my senior year on creating projects within the Visual Communication Design program centered around animal testing. I felt it would be powerful to approach animal testing through visual communication design because it allows for the audience to digest the issue in a well-designed fashion, while also being informative. In the Fall of 2019 I designed and constructed a fully functional clock that highlighted the unaccounted for animal lives lost due to animal testing, specifically within the United States. In the Spring of 2020 I completed a virtual exhibit space advocating for individuals to switch to a cruelty-free lifestyle through the products they employ in their daily lives. This exhibit space was originally meant to be built and displayed in person, but due to COVID-19 this was unable to happen. Instead, I was able to work through this setback and construct an augmented reality exhibit. To view this and a process book of creating this virtual exhibit space, visit https://asudesignshow.com/Riley-Padua-Cruelty-Free-Beauty. Finally, I created a book to document the work I created within my senior year with an additional section dedicated to the social issue of animal testing. It is my hope that through my designs and throughout my life that I can be a voice for these animals and work to fight for the end of animal testing.
ContributorsPadua, Riley Sinclaire (Author) / Sanft, Alfred (Thesis director) / Heywood, William (Committee member) / The Design School (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
“Tell It to the Frogs: Fukushima’s nuclear disaster and its impact on the Japanese Tree Frog” is a representation of the work from Giraudeau et. al’s “Carotenoid distribution in wild Japanese tree frogs (Hyla japonica) exposed to ionizing radiation in Fukushima.” This paper looked to see if carotenoid levels in the tree frog’s vocal sac, liver, and blood were affected by radiation from Fukushima’s power plant explosion. Without carotenoids, the pigment that gives the frogs their orange color on their necks, their courtship practices would be impacted and would not be as able to show off their fitness to potential mates. The artwork inspired by this research displayed the tree frog’s degradation over time due to radiation, starting with normal life and ending with their death and open on the table. The sculptures also pinpoint where the carotenoids were being measured with a brilliant orange glaze. Through ceramic hand building, the artist created larger than life frogs in hopes to elicit curiosity about them and their plight. While the paper did not conclude any changes in the frog’s physiology after 18 months of exposure, there are still questions that are left unanswered. Why did these frogs not have any reaction? Could there be any effects after more time has passed? Is radiation leakage as big of a problem as previously thought? The only way to get the answers to these questions is to be aware of these amphibians, the circumstances that led them to be involved, and continued research on them and radiation.
ContributorsWesterfield, Savannah (Author) / Beiner, Susan (Thesis director) / McGraw, Kevin (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Animal testing is a long-running institution in biomedical research that is seen as a necessary step in the development of new drugs and treatments in the United States. Using animal models that have biological similarities to humans, it is assumed that we can ethically perform basic research that is translatable to human health. However, recent years have seen this assumption challenged by the fact that most preclinical research fails to survive the gauntlet of human trials into a functioning treatment on the market. This has marked ethical implications for both the people that depend on new treatments for their health, and the animals used in the research themselves. The purpose of this thesis is to develop solutions for the problems facing animal testing in the United States. First, I identify the political and economic basis of the modern system of animal testing by examining legislation and the IACUCs that govern animal research to understand why the practice continues to be used despite its low rate of success. I then examine factors such as epigenetics and the laboratory environment to explain reasons why animal research fails to translate to humans. Finally, I cover new in-vitro methods such as organoids and organ-on-a-chip technologies to show the potential that alternatives hold for biomedical research. As a result of this analysis, I propose the further integration of alternatives into our system of animal testing to make up for the translational failures the field currently experiences. I also highlight the importance of having IACUCs balanced between animal researchers and members of the public to improve the welfare of animals used in research and increase the transparency of their work. Including more animals into the Animal Welfare Act is also proposed to better standardize our treatment of them and keep experimental results more consistent.
ContributorsCammann, Davis Bukovi (Author) / Barca, Lisa (Thesis director) / Hurlbut, Ben (Committee member) / Sterner, Beckett (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12