A couple of weeks ago I was told that in one of my modules (Medical Physiology for those who are interested) we would be performing certain tests on an anaesthetised cat. This was probably a little naive of me, but I got a little excited with images in my head of an actual anaesthetised cat. My friend put me in line though, reminding me we don't tend to do things like that anymore and that it would probably be a computer simulation. Still, I was rather impressed, cutting open a virtual cat or pumping it full of drugs sounded like it could be pretty interesting and a fulfilling learning experience for a budding biologist.
It wasn't.
I got to the practical yesterday, dragging myself out of bed at 7 to have a hearty breakfast and a shower, so that my mind would be fully prepared to intake whatever I learned. I arrived on time, rearing and ready to go. They split us in two groups, and sent us to do different experiments and swap later. Slightly sad that I was put in the group that had the cat experiment last, I grudgingly went along. I had to analyse some data and present my results, so I pressed onwards quietly and efficiently with the cat program in the back of my mind. Toward the end of this I was getting eager, although I heard muttering coming from the other group about how boring their experiment was boring. "Nonsense!" I thought, "They mustn't understand what they have to do." I finally finished the experiment and our groups were swapped. I eagerly logged into the computers and loaded up Anaesthetisedcat.exe (great file name MMU). It loaded up, and I was immediately confused. This is what I was presented with.
Yup. Two lines, one measuring heart rate and one measuring blood pressure. Drugs could be selected from a drop down menu to be "applied", and the lines would change accordingly. I had a bit of fun and although I didn't learn anything new it helped refresh some things in my mind (namely alpha/beta adrenoceptors, but I won't bore you with that). I got talking with the lecturer who presented it after though and told them about my mistake. I got him to reminisce about experiments he did as an undergrad, before the time of strict enforced Health and Safety and Ethics Committees.
This got me thinking about whether students nowadays are missing out on a big chunk of Biology with these restrictions being pushed upon them. I think most of us will remember a time when a teacher cut open a heart in a science lesson, or they got to cut open some form of organ (my personal favourite has to be cutting open a sheep's eye, really felt like I learned a lot about eye anatomy that, and let's face it, it was so amazingly gruesome I'll never forget it).
If you watch films and shows from the 80's and 90's the "typical" Biology lesson always seems to consist of cutting up some small dead animal. People find this interesting, this is supported by the fact that the Channel 4's "Inside Nature's Giants" show was as phenomenal success and a big talking point. These days though, these things are either brushed aside or done virtually. You get the occasional anatomy lesson where you or the person taking the lesson will cut open some tissue, but these are pretty rare (I can only think of a handful of times I've got a chance to do this).
I really think this is a shame. Obviously there are ethical considerations, and that's a great thing in science. If you look at the lack of ethics that has been in science in the past you'll see why. Scienctists are only just beginning to shed the stigma of "Madman in a white coat" (admittedly there are plenty of those types around though) and moving toward something else.
Humanely obtained samples can still be retrieved and should really be used in schools. It can really help to get kids interested in science, as it stops science lessons getting stuck with the label of "boring".
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