TROPLIST: Are embryos animals?

[Jeremy Green]

Dear Nick,

The Home Office in the UK considers that amphibian embryos are not  
classified as regulated animals until independent feeding stage (and  
they also have explicit criteria for a whole range of other species  
and classes). This seems like as good a criterion as any.

Best wishes,

Jeremy

Jeremy B.A. Green Ph.D.
Reader in Developmental Cell Biology
Kings College London
Department of Craniofacial Development
Guys Tower, Floor 27
London SE1 9RT
UK

jeremy.green@kcl.ac.uk
Tel. +44 20 7188 1794
http://myprofile.cos.com/greenj45





On 11 Aug 2008, at 17:37, Hirsch, Nicolas wrote:

> Does your IACUC consider embryos or tadpoles to be “animals” that  
> must be accounted for in animal protocols? I’m currently writing my  
> animal use protocol and have been grappling with this question.
>
> OLAW’s FAQ page says amphibian and fish “larvae” are animals for  
> the purposes of regulation, but I can’t find anywhere what stage is  
> considered the beginning of larval life. I’ve been corresponding  
> with Kim Taylor, a vet at OLAW, and her opinion is that embryos are  
> not animals until “hatching”. This applies to chick embryos, which  
> are obviously very highly developed before hatching from the  
> eggshell.  Since amphibian embryologists define “hatching”  
> differently, I’m thinking early embryos wouldn’t be regulated but  
> that tadpoles would be. This doesn’t make much logical sense, of  
> course, but when have bureaucracies been great lovers of logic?
>
> Your experiences or opinions would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Nick Hirsch
>
>
> _________________________________________________
>
> Dr. Nick Hirsch
> Department of Biology
> Hiram College
> Hiram, Ohio   44234
>
> Phone: 330-569-5848
> Email: hirschn@hiram.edu
>

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