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Why A Researcher Uses Animals In Her Laboratory Work

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By EDYTHE LONDON Special to the Los Angeles Times

Published: November 20, 2007

For years, I have watched with growing concern as my University of California, Los Angeles colleagues have been subjected to increasing harassment, violence and threats by animal rights extremists.

In the last 15 months, these attempts at intimidation have included the placement of a Molotov cocktail-type device at a colleague's home and another under a colleague's car - thankfully, they didn't ignite - as well as rocks thrown through windows, phone and e-mail threats, banging on doors in the middle of the night and, on several occasions, direct confrontations with young children.

Then, several weeks ago, an article in The San Francisco Chronicle about my work to understand and treat nicotine addiction among adolescents informed readers that some of my research is done on primates. I was instantly on my guard. Would I be the next victim?

The answer came last week when the Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for vandalism that caused between almost $30,000 worth of damage to my home after extremists broke a window and inserted a garden hose, flooding the interior.

I appreciate that perhaps "only in America" could I have fulfilled my dream of becoming a biomedical scientist, supported in doing research to reduce human suffering. But it is difficult for me to understand how the same country gives rise to an organization like the Animal Liberation Front, a shadowy group identified by the FBI as a domestic terrorism threat, which threatens the safety of researchers engaged in animal studies that are crucial to moving medicine forward.

Animal studies allow us to test potential treatments without confounding factors, such as previous drug use and other experiences that complicate human studies. Even more important, they allow us to test possibly life-saving treatments before they are considered safe to test in humans. Our animal studies address the effects of chronic drug use on brain functions that are impaired in human addicts. All of our studies comply with federal laws designed to ensure humane care.

My colleagues and I place a huge value on the welfare of our research subjects. We constantly strive to minimize the risk to them; however, a certain amount of risk is necessary. Thousands of other scientists use laboratory animals in other research, giving hope to those afflicted with a wide variety of ailments. Already, one scientist at UCLA has announced that he will not pursue potentially important studies for fear of the violence that animal rights radicals might visit on his family. We must not allow these extremists to stop important research that advances the human condition.

Edythe London is a professor of psychiatry and bio-behavioral sciences and of molecular and medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.

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