Razor-blade letters and crop vandalism this fall have heightened public interest in the use of animals and genetic modification in research. The News Service prepared the following report to offer background information on the use and oversight of animals in research. In addition, in the Dec. 3 Dateline, we will publish a similar background report on genetic modification of crops and animals in order to give the campus community more information about the issue. Why use animals? UC Davis is one of the largest and most prestigious biological research facilities in the United States. With a College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, the California Regional Primate Research Center and a large number of academic departments, Davis has a very strong and diverse team of research scientists. Animals provide valuable models for studies ranging from the impact of environmental pollution to treatment of diseases and physical ailments. They also are an important part of training veterinary students. The UC Center for Animal Alternatives, established by the California Legislature in 1991 and located at UC Davis, has helped to reduce the number of animals used in teaching and research. It has encouraged the development and use of animal models, computer programs and other animal alternatives. How many and what kind? The campus houses as many as 150,000 animals during the course of a year. About half are fish, and most of the fish are larvae (the size of a guppy or smaller). Most of the rest are mice and rats; perhaps 30,000 mice and rats together are used in a typical year. Davis has thousands of farm animals, including chickens, and most live here year after year. The campus has a colony of about 3,800 monkeys-there are no chimps, gorillas or other apes. Many of the monkeys live here for decades; approximately 200 per year are either sacrificed as part of a research project or are euthanized for health reasons. About 300 dogs and 600 cats are used each year. Most of the dogs are pound animals scheduled for euthanasia at the pound. These animals are used for teaching exercises by veterinary students; they are anesthetized and never regain consciousness, exactly as would happen at the pound. A few hundred cats and a smaller number of dogs are used in research projects. Oversight and regulations A campus Animal Care and Use Committee must approve each animal research project before it can be submitted to a funding agency. This review process is mandated by federal law. The committee must verify that the living conditions of the animals are appropriate for the species, that the use of pain-relieving drugs is adequate, and that the numbers of animals are the minimum necessary to complete the project. Animal welfare inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture regularly make unannounced inspections of the campus. Studies at the California Regional Primate Research Center must pass three levels of review in order to be conducted. First, the primate center's own animal care committee reviews the proposed project to make certain that it is feasible, that the techniques are appropriate, and that the study justifies the use of the center's primates (most of which are bred for research on the center's grounds). If approved by the primate center's committee, the project must be reviewed by the campus's Animal Care and Use Committee. Finally, at the National Institutes of Health (or other funding agency), an expert committee of scientists called a "study section" reviews all the grant applications submitted to the agency and decides which ones are the best scientifically and which ones are the most important to human health in the United States.