Ch. 3— Patterns of Animal Use • 45 
fice of Naval Research (ONR). The Naval Medical 
Research and Development Command does re- 
search in: 
• submarine and diving medicine, 
• electromagnetic radiation, 
• aviation medicine/human performance, 
• fleet health care systems, 
• infectious diseases, and 
• oral and dental health. 
ONR conducts research using animals in four ma- 
jor areas: molecular biology, neurophysiology/ 
physiology, cellular biosystems, and psychologi- 
cal sciences (45). 
Department of Energy 
The Department of Energy has no intramural 
research facilities and so contracts out all its re- 
search (47). The primary research objective within 
its Office of Health and Environmental Research 
is to study the health and environmental effects 
of energy technologies and programs. To do this, 
in the past, the Department’s contractor used dogs. 
Recently, though, there has been a gradual shift 
from whole animals to cellular and molecular re- 
search and a much greater emphasis on rodents 
as opposed to companion species or primates (12). 
Department of Health and 
Human Services 
Intramural animal research or testing is carried 
out by four components of the Department of 
Health and Human Services' Public Health Serv- 
ice: the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food 
and Drug Administration (FDA), the National In- 
stitute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) (a part of the Alco- 
hol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administra- 
tion), and the National Institute for Occupational 
Safety and Health (NIOSH) (a part of the Centers 
for Disease Control). 
NIH is the largest research institution in the Fed- 
eral Government and uses more animals than any 
other department or agency. The mission of NIH 
is to uncover new knowledge that will lead to bet- 
ter health (51). It does this by both intramural and 
extramural research. Approximately 88 percent 
of the NIH budget is spent on extramural programs 
while 10 percent goes to intramural research and 
2 percent is used for NIH administration. Some 
44 percent of the research awards go to research 
involving animals (28). 
Research in the FDA is mission-oriented, with 
the principal objective being to provide data to sup- 
port regulatory decisions. Research is conducted 
to determine the safety of human and animal foods; 
detect contaminants in human and animal foods; 
determine the safety and efficacy of human and 
animal drugs, biological products, and medical de- 
vices; reduce unnecessary exposure to artificial 
radiation; and increase fundamental understand- 
ing of the toxicological effects of chemicals. Ninety 
percent of the dollar budget for FDA research is 
allocated to intramural research studies while the 
other 10 percent goes to extramural research (5). 
Department of the Interior 
The Department of the Interior does more than 
95 percent of its research in-house (31). Most ani- 
mal research is performed by the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service to support its mission “to provide 
the Federal leadership to conserve, protect, and 
enhance fish and wildlife and their habitats for 
the continuing benefit of people.” This involves 
maintenance of relevant research and education 
programs in cooperation with other State and pri- 
vate organizations to enhance fish and wildlife re- 
source management (53). 
Department of Transportation 
The Department of Transportation conducts ani- 
mal research under the authority of the Hazard- 
ous Transportation Act of 1974 to determine the 
level at which substances become Class B poisons 
(see ch. 7). Most of the research involving animals 
is conducted extramurally (42). The Department 
also performs animal research under the author- 
ity of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety 
Act of 1966 (10). 
