Have a drink before the autopsy

Snails were offered to be prepared for euthanasia with beer

Oleg Lischuk, N+1

American scientists have concluded that beer provides the proper level of anesthesia and immobilization of laboratory land snails before killing as part of research. The report on the work is published in the Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science: Gilbertson, Wyatt, Evaluation of Euthanasia Techniques for an Invertebrate Species, Land Snails (Succinea putris).

Recently, scientists from most countries have been practicing a humane approach to the euthanasia of laboratory animals, as required by the directives regulating the conduct of research. In mammals, substances for inhalation anesthesia, which are used in anesthesiology, are usually used for this. Methods of painless killing of other animals have not yet been fully worked out. Moreover, the development of the nociceptive (pain-perceiving) system in invertebrates has not been sufficiently studied, so their response to pain stimuli is judged mainly by external manifestations.

Current recommendations allow the use of ethanol in concentrations from one to five percent, as well as eugenol and magnesium salts to prepare for the killing of marine mollusks. In land snails, these methods have not yet been tested – usually they are simply immersed in 95% alcohol. At the same time, they (especially small individuals less than 2.5 centimeters long) show signs of suffering: they shrink sharply and secrete mucus and excrement. In addition, they are drawn deep into the shell, which makes subsequent preparation difficult.

The staff of the State Universities of New York and Rochester tested various methods of euthanasia of land snails, taking into account the possible discomfort of animals, the impact on the course of the experiment, acceptability for staff and convenience of conducting in laboratory and field conditions.

Scientists have come to the conclusion that the most suitable from all points of view is the preparation of snails for killing by immersion in a five percent solution of ethyl alcohol. Beer can serve as an acceptable and easily accessible form of such a solution – in the experiment, the researchers used Pabst Blue Ribbon containing 4.74 percent alcohol.

Such treatment led to gradual immobilization of the snails and loss of reaction to stimuli, such as scratching or needle prick. After immersion in beer, they are able to recover within an hour, and in the case of euthanasia with concentrated alcohol, they quickly die without any external reactions. This method of killing preserves shellfish tissue well for further study.

"Our data that beer – a universally available drink – is effective for anesthesia of snails can facilitate research on invertebrates around the world," concluded Jeffrey Wyatt, head of the work, in a press release Beer Eases Final Moments for Euthanized Invertebrates.

Interestingly, snails tend to drink beer voluntarily – this drink is used as bait in traps for their prey.

Snails are an important component of most ecosystems and an integral part of food chains. Because of this, they serve as an indicator of the state of the environment, which attracts the attention of researchers. In addition, scientists are engaged in the fight against invasive species of snails and the protection of endangered species, which also requires constant experiments. The study of snails also plays an important role in the study of the evolution of various traits – so, recently, the pond snails of Lymnaea stagnalis helped to understand the mechanisms responsible for the asymmetric arrangement of the internal organs of animals.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  10.10.2016