Alternative Strategies to the Use of Vertebrates in Undergraduate Physiology Labs

 

Flora Watson and Charlotte Omotto

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2005, Volume 26

Abstract

There are many reasons to seek alternatives to the use of vertebrates, including cost and concerns with use of vertebrates in undergraduate laboratories. This major workshop explores examples of alternatives, including: a) an exploration of thermoregulation without using animals at all, b) an investigation of actomyosin function and membrane excitation using giant alga, and c) using insects to investigate taste receptors and digestion. This workshop explores the importance of providing good background information to vertebrate processes and connecting the alternative experimental system to homologous physiological processes in vertebrates. Students can appreciate the commonality in biological processes and the importance of underlying physiological principles.

Keywords:  physiology, thermoregulation, insects, digestion, taste receptors, membrane excitation, actomyosin

Bowling Green State University, Ohio (2004)