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To help minimize the harm animals may experience while being studied in the laboratory,
researchers are required to follow a set of principles called the Three Rs. The Three Rs are:
replacement, reduction, and refinement. Replacement refers to methods that replace or avoid the
use of animals during research such as computer modelling or human volunteers instead of
animals. Reduction refers to minimizing the number of animals used. This can be done by
sharing information with other researchers so that they are not doing the same experiments or by
improving experimental techniques. The last R, refinement, refers to minimize pain, suffering,
and distress that may be experienced by the animals. An example of refinement would be using
appropriate anesthetics and/or painkillers. All research using animals in the United States, such
as at universities, is regulated by the Animal Welfare Act. The Laboratory Animal Resource
Center (LARC) provides oversight for the care and well-being of all animals used for research,
teaching, and testing at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center of El Paso. The LARC is
accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care
(AAALAC) in animal housing facilities and provides animal husbandry services, veterinary care,
training, and technical services to TTUHSC El Paso researchers and instructors. The Three Rs
are implied in the AWA and any scientists planning to use animals in their research must first
demonstrate why there is no alternative, that the number of animals used and any suffering
caused will be kept to a minimum.
Decades of medical studies has made several diseases treatable and medical
breakthroughs such as diabetes. In El Paso, 50% of all patients admitted to local hospitals have
diabetes-related complications. Dogs were crucial to the research that identified the cause of
diabetes, which led to the development of insulin.