Markets & Materials
Exploring the changing networks formed around the origins and fates of laboratory animals via in-depth interviews and ethnography.
There is increasing emphasis on the whole life of experimental animals, from new guidelines from funders and regulators on animal breeding and supply, to the encouragement of strain archiving and tissue sharing through biobanks, and to the rehoming of animals used in regulated procedures. At the same time, breeding has been a visible target for past anti-vivisectionist activity, with multiple attempts to disrupt and reduce the supply of experimental animals to the UK. This has not straightforwardly improved the life experiences of animals used in UK research, nor reduced numbers, instead often increasing imports of animals and overseas research. Altogether, these changes raise questions about the implications of these increasingly complex networks for efforts to protect animal welfare and for future scientific research.
This project approached the animal research nexus by exploring the changing networks formed around the origins and fates of laboratory animals through in-depth interviews and ethnographic methods. We mapped these evolving networks of animal breeding, supply, and rehoming and understood them within the cultural economies of sourcing animals for use in scientific research. We addressed questions about value, surplus, quality, assurance and welfare within animal supply chain practices.
This project was carried out by the team at the University of Southampton. If you have questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact the Project Lead, Prof Emma Roe, who will be able to direct specific questions about breeding, biobanking and supply onto Dr Sara Peres and rehoming to Dr Tess Skidmore.
Relevant, tagged site content:
Engagement Activities
The Mouse Exchange is a public engagement activity that invites small groups of members of the public to “
Publications
This book features highlights from the Animal Research Nexus Programme to demonstrates how the humanities and social sciences can contribute to understanding what is created through animal procedures - including constitutional forms of research governance, different institutional cultures of care, the professional careers of scientists and veterinarians, collaborations with patients and publics, and research animals, specially bred for experiments or surplus to requirements.
Developing the idea of the animal research nexus, this book explores how connections and disconnections are made between these different elements, how these have reshaped each other historically, and how they configure the current practice and policy of UK animal research.
Beth and Emma contributed a short piece on how American political theorist Lauren Berlant's concept of 'cruel optimism' can be thought with in relation to animal research.
The global distribution of laboratory mouse strains is valued for ensuring the continuity, validity and accessibility of model organisms. Mouse strains are therefore assumed mobile and able to travel. In this paper, we draw on the concept of ‘animal mobilities’ (Hodgetts and Lorimer 2019) to explain how attending to laboratory mice as living animal, commodity and scientific tool is shaping how they are transported through contemporary scientific infrastructures and communities.
This paper explores what happens to care, and decisions about ending and extending life, when research animals become pets and pets become research animals. To do this, we draw on in- depth qualitative research on (i) rehoming of laboratory animals, (ii) veterinary clinical research, and (iii) the role of the Named Veterinary Surgeon (NVS) in UK animal research. Key contributions of our work include highlighting: how care roles can be split; the impor- tance of considering speculative and in-practice elements of care; the context-dependency and multiplicity of practices of killing in the veterinary clinic and laboratory; and the flexibility and changing nature of animal categories.
The Mouse Exchange (Mx) is a curiosity-driven activity that explores the origins of laboratory mice through crafting and conversations. It forms part of the Public Engagement programme of the Animal Research Nexus. This MX toolkit provides guidance about the materials needed to set up a MX event and provides a guide to facilitators about how to hold conversations that meet the aims of the Mx.
This thesis, written by Tess Skidmore, explores the rehoming of laboratory animals. Drawing on qualitative interviews and a semi-structured questionnaire, the thesis investigates the sociocultural and political importance of the growing attention toward rehoming.
Laboratory animal science represents a challenging and controversial form of human-animal relations because its practice involves the deliberate and inadvertent harming and killing of animals. We propose that different notions of care are enacted alongside, not only permitted levels of harm inflicted on research animals following research protocols, but also harms to ATs in the processes of caring and killing animals.
The application of genome editing to animal research connects to a wide variety of policy concerns and public conversations. In this paper, we explore three key roles that publics are playing in the development of genome editing techniques applied to animals in biomedical research: as publics, as populations, and as participants.
Despite its increasing attention from animal welfare organisations, there is currently a lack of research which explores the numbers and species rehomed after being used in animal research. This paper, using a semi-structured questionnaire, explores rehoming practice across UK animal research facilities in order to provide an overall picture of current rehoming practice.
This poster discusses the management of animal numbers in our research examining the breeding, supply, and biobanking of lab animals within the economies of biomedical science.
Blog entry
The University of Southampton was fortunate to host one Wellcome funded PhD studentship within the AnNex programme.
We are excited to announce our new edited volume – Researching Animal Research – forthcoming (January 2024) with Manchester University Press.
In part 1 of this blog series, we introduced the idea of a ‘spectrum of visibility’ in animal research, with
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought everyone’s attention to the simple practice of hand-washing - when to do it, and how to do it well.
Novel and innovative approaches for achieving good animal welfare are increasingly considered.
I visited the Craft and Graft exhibition at the Crick Institute before it closure in early February 2020.
There is no qualitative research into public understanding of the origins of research animals, which is a particular area of interest for the Markets and Materials strand.
Understanding and examining the significance of the laboratory space physically, practically, emotionally and metaphorically, is opening up new lines of social scientific enquiry regarding the relations between health, science and welfare
Events
The Animal Research Nexus Programme is hosting a conference entitled 'Researching Animal Research' on 30th – 31st of March at the Wellcome Collection in London.
Join researchers from the University of Southampton for a family day suitable for all ages.
Where do lab mice come from? Where do they end up? Joins us for crafting felt mice to exchange or take home. You can also explore the history, practices, and ideas of care involved in making laboratory mice.
Where do lab mice come from? Where do they end up? Joins us for crafting felt mice to exchange or take home. You can also explore the history, practices, and ideas of care involved in making laboratory mice.
Announcements
We are so delighted to announce that the Mouse Exchange has been recognised for its public engagement work by winning the 7th Annual Openness Awards, awarded by the Concorda
Project partners
Paul is an interdisciplinary researcher and artist, with an interest in nonhuman animals, performance and public engagement.
The Medical Research Council’s Mary Lyon Centre (MLC) is located on the Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire.