FASEB Submits Comments to NASEM on Revisions to the Guide

By: Naomi Charalambakis
Wednesday, July 10, 2024
On July 9, FASEB submitted comments to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Standing Committee for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals regarding future revisions to the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. As an internationally accepted resource, the guide aims to promote the humane care and use of animals in biomedical research through evidence-based standards and information. Institutions use the guide to develop their animal care and use programs, as required by the Public Health Service Policy.

Last updated in 2011, the NASEM Standing Committee is overseeing a multiyear process to revise the guide in accordance with the latest science and animal welfare standards. To achieve this, the standing committee issued a Request for Feedback to gather suggestions from the animal research community on specific sections of the guide that require updating, including new peer-reviewed journal articles and science-based information not addressed in the current document. 

FASEB’s comments include multiple recommendations across three categories:

1. Animal welfare and care; 
2. Institutional interpretation and enforcement of the guide;
3. Committee composition and stakeholder engagement.  

Among its recommendations, FASEB stresses the importance of providing institutional flexibility and trusting the expertise of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees to ensure animal care programs operate by standards that work best for their individual needs. Furthermore, FASEB encourages the composition of the committee responsible for drafting revisions to reflect the diversity of the animal research community, covering race, ethnicity, gender, career stage, institutional type and size, and animal model expertise.