Biology Students as Experimental Subjects

Abstract

NO BIOLOGY COURSE IS COMPLETE without direct observation of living organisms. The study of dead and pickled specimens has some usefulness, but it is the study of living matter that is fundamental to understanding organic processes. The study should be comprehensive; that is, a wide range of living organisms should be observed in a biology classroom. Classroom subjects of study should include representatives of the higher animal phyla as well as higher plants, fungi, bacteria, protozoans, and other small animals. Among these, representative forms of the higher animal phyla are small mammals and man. Oddly enough, some high-school and college teachers seem to think that studying mammals means studying only gerbils, hamsters, guinea pigs, and mice. Usually such studies are made on domesticated, caged animals. Observation of wild animals in their natural habitats is usually not part of a biology course. Yet domesticated, captive animals are quite different in their physiology and behavior from their wild counterparts. Perhaps even more strangely, the study of human physiology by direct experimentation on human subjects is similarly neglected. Whereas one might argue that studying wild animals in their native habitats presents certain problems for the classroom biology teacher, no such problems exist in the study of human physiology. There are many advantages to using human beings as subjects for biological observation. Human subjects are always at hand; there is minimum preparation for such experiments. Human subjects can follow directions and respond verbally, to provide data not obtainable from other mammals. Whereas it may be difficult to interest students in the physiological processes of an amoeba, the functioning of the human body is of great importance and interest to most students. Some youngsters may fail to recognize the relevance of some liveanimal biology demonstrations to their own problems; for instance, some may have difficulty relating the rtutritional requirements of guinea pigs to their own food needs. Is it not more forceful and of more direct value for a student to learn as much as possible by direct study of himself? Despite these many advantages, most high-school biology courses either neglect or omit the study of man as a physiological entity. Many teachers never entertain the idea of using human subjects in their classes-maybe because they think of all experimentation as something that will harm or injure the subject. Of course, proper provision must be made to ensure that experiments in human physiology are carefully chosen, so that neither physical nor psychological harm will befall the subject; but, even so, a wide range of educationally sound experiments can be selected. The purpose of this article is to suggest some of them. Equipment needs for these experiments are minimal; materials are easy to obtain and inexpensive.