Atla Altern Lab Anim
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Atla Altern Lab Anim · Sep 2011
The latest statistics of scientific procedures on living animals reveal little three rs progress in great britain in 2010.
The 2010 Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals showed that the level of animal experimentation in Great Britain continues to rise, with just over 3.7 million procedures being conducted. This is almost exclusively due to the sustained increase in the breeding and utilisation of genetically-altered animals. ⋯ In addition, the impact of the recent Government announcement to ban testing of household products on animals is discussed, along with the implications of the fish becoming the second most frequently used animal in scientific research. Finally, concerns about primate use, the REACH System, cosmetics testing and the new EU Directive on the protection of laboratory animals are explained.
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Atla Altern Lab Anim · Dec 2010
ReviewReporting the implementation of the Three Rs in European primate and mouse research papers: are we making progress?
It is now more than 20 years since both Council of Europe Convention ETS123 and EU Directive 86/609/EEC were introduced, to promote the implementation of the Three Rs in animal experimentation and to provide guidance on animal housing and care. It might therefore be expected that reports of the implementation of the Three Rs in animal research papers would have increased during this period. In order to test this hypothesis, a literature survey of animal-based research was conducted. ⋯ There was no significant increase in overall reporting score over time, for either mouse or primate research. By 2006, mouse research papers scored an average of 0 out of a possible 10, and primate research papers scored an average of 1.5. This review provides systematic evidence that animal research is still not properly reported, and supports the call within the scientific community for action to be taken by journals to update their policies.
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Atla Altern Lab Anim · Apr 2009
Implementation of the Three Rs in biomedical research - has the turn of the century turned the tide?
There has been increasing pressure from the public against animal experimentation for testing and research purposes. The Three Rs (replacement, reduction, and refinement) principle is thought to be a key foundation concept in optimising the welfare of animals used in experiments. This retrospective study attempts to investigate the transition of the Three Rs in biomedical research through a review of articles published in Nature Medicine. ⋯ We also examined each article for the presence of a statement relating to the humane use of laboratory animals, and found that the number of articles which included such a statement dramatically increased in 2002. Over the years studied, there was a decreasing trend in the total number of animal types used for the experiments in the articles. Our results suggest that: a) more encouragement by journal editors might improve the attitude of scientists in terms of animal welfare; and b) the progress of replacement appears to be a more long-term effort in the field of biomedical research.
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Atla Altern Lab Anim · Feb 2009
Worldwide trends in the use of animals in research: the contribution of genetically-modified animal models.
The Three Rs--Reduction, Replacement and Refinement--which were first proposed in 1959 by Russell and Burch, have become widely accepted principles in the governance of humane animal research. However, there is substantial variation in the ways in which different countries document the numbers and types of research animals used, making it difficult to determine how effectively the Three Rs are being implemented. Here, we provide the first data illustrating worldwide trends in animal use for research purposes. ⋯ The rising popularity of genetic modification methods has contributed to this trend: reported genetically-modified animal use has more than doubled since 1997. We also show that mice are the most commonly-used species for genetic modification, and that, even in 2007, relatively inefficient random integration methods were still widely used to achieve genetic modification. These results illustrate shortcomings in the effort to implement the Three Rs in animal research.
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Highly polarised viewpoints about animal experimentation have often prevented agreement. However, important common ground between advocates and opponents was demonstrated within a discussion forum hosted at www.research-methodology.org.uk in July-August 2008, by the independent charity, SABRE Research UK. Agreement existed that many animal studies have methodological flaws - such as inappropriate sample sizes, lack of randomised treatments, and unblinded outcome assessments - that may introduce bias and limit statistical validity. ⋯ Where neither sufficient primary studies, nor systematic reviews of such studies, exist, for citation within a licence application, researchers should be able to provide evidence of this shortcoming, and, concurrently, demonstrate that the available literature and evidence have been adequately reviewed. This should also enable them to clearly demonstrate the need and scientific appropriateness of their proposed study, the validity of its design, and - importantly - that the benefits are reasonably likely to exceed the animal welfare, bioethical and financial costs. Invasive animal studies should never be permitted solely on the basis of less probable, speculative or intangible human benefits, or the mere satisfaction of scientific curiosity.