Adopting ahimsa in science

Updated on: Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The Mahatma Gandhi Doerenkamp Centre for Alternatives to the Use of Animals in Life Science Education (MGDC), Bharathidasan University, has commenced its task of reaching out to university, college and school teachers in other parts of the country with its message of ahimsa.

At a recent national-level conference in Jaipur supported by the Centre, participants comprising university and college teachers were motivated to find a suitable replacement in dissections and animal experiments in life science and biomedical science curriculum with humane alternatives.

The event, a part of the ‘National Workshop-cum-Symposium on Potential Alternatives to Dissection and Animal Experimentation', was sponsored by the University Grants Commission; Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi; InterNICHE (International Network for Humane Education), U.K., and the International Association Against Painful Experiments on Animals (IAAPEA).

Centre Director M.A. Akbarsha, who is also the Gandhi-Gruber-Doerenkamp Chair for Alternatives in Life Science and In Vitro Toxicology, at Bharathidasan University, said teachers of anatomy, physiology and other disciplines were apprised of the alternatives in Life Science education and innovative learning tools by representatives of the Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experimental Animals (CPCSEA) that functions under the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

“The evolution of the subject content of zoology — systematics, cell biology, genetics, developmental biology, physiology, ecology, evolution, etc., each of which is no more the simple, theoretical and /or descriptive accounts but has become exciting and lively with the tag of biochemistry and molecular biology to it, and very importantly the emphasis on biodiversity — has raised major questions about the perceived importance and relevance of dissection, which is the laboratory exercise for anatomy and the classical concepts in evolution.”

“Biodiversity conservation, the need of the hour, requires that the students are taught to be kind and humane towards the animals and not treat them with contempt as dead and expendable objects. Instead of taking animals into the lab to kill, we should use alternative approaches, including respectfully studying them in the habitats where they live, without harming them.”

Sensitising

On the killing of large number of animals in laboratories for purpose of testing and experiments, Prof. Akbharsha said:

“In vitro and in silico modalities can greatly obviate this use and make learning and testing more lively and exciting. The newly established Mahatma Gandhi - Doerenkamp Center will train teachers in all three modalities of alternatives, computer-aided, in vitro and in silico, so as to sensitize and motivate them to change to suit to the emerging pedagogical change in the teaching of life sciences and biomedical science.”

There was encouraging support to this ahimsa call from the academic fraternity. Said the Organising Secretary of the event B.K. Sharma, Head, Department of Zoology at R.L. Saharia Government PG College affiliated to the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur: “We are calling for a change in the mindset of educators, education administrators, policy makers and politicians which should be followed by major curricular transformation in zoology and other fields where defenceless animals are used. We encourage all Boards of Study to meet on a regular basis to address the pressing need for replacement of dissection and animal experiments.”

Humane alternatives

K. K. Sharma, Professor and Head, Department of Zoology, MDS University, Ajmer, had this to say: “We are discouraging the use of dissection and are working towards its total removal by replacement with humane alternatives. Our future zoologists must be trained not through killing but with software and models, and the use of ethical fieldwork with a conservation and biodiversity focus. It is high time we asked right across the country what the best way to teach our students is, and consider moving from dead biology to live biology.”

According to Chitralekha Ramachandran of Stella Maris College, Chennai, who was successful in implementing the learning of zoology in the laboratory with the use of the alternatives in place of dissection, it was ironical that zoology teachers emphasize the role of every organism in the delicate balance of nature on the one hand while on the other kill animals for dissection. “Today the zoology teachers are experiencing an ethical crisis over animal dissection and experimentation in the laboratories,” Dr. Chitralekha said.

M. C. Sathyanarayana, a senior faculty in Zoology and Wildlife Biology at AVC College, Mayiladuthurai, said that the curricular transformation is not only a challenge to the educator but is a great opportunity for reaping the benefits of every kind: scientific, economic and humanitarian.

The curriculum planners and policy makers need to drive change, taking on new and collaborative roles to integrate the emerging science of learning into the educational system.

The students should be provided with the opportunity to attend dynamic, high quality curriculum designed to meet the challenges of the digital age.

“The Jaipur conference has demonstrated the commitment from teachers to best practice and humane education. With international published studies so clearly demonstrating the pedagogical superiority of alternatives, I am confident that the remaining obstacles to modernisation will soon fall away,” said Nick Jukes, co-ordinator of InterNICHE.

Adopting ahimsa in science

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