Papers by Michelle Hudson-Shore
Atla-alternatives To Laboratory Animals, Dec 1, 2016
The Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 2015 indicate that... more The Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 2015 indicate that the Home Office were correct in recommending that caution should be exercised when interpreting the 2014 data as an apparent decline in animal experiments. The 2015 report shows that, as the changes to the format of the annual statistics have become more familiar and less problematic, there has been a reemergence of the upward trend in animal research and testing in Great Britain. The 2015 statistics report an increase in animal procedures (up to 4,142,631) and in the number of animals used (up to 4,069,349). This represents 1% more than the totals in 2013, and a 7% increase on the procedures reported in 2014. This paper details an analysis of these most recent statistics, providing information on overall animal use and highlighting specific issues associated with genetically-altered animals, dogs and primates. It also reflects on areas of the new format that have previously been highlighted as being problematic, and concludes with a discussion about the use of animals in regulatory research and testing, and how there are significant missed opportunities for replacing some of the animal-based tests in this area.
Atla-alternatives To Laboratory Animals, Dec 1, 2012
Atla-alternatives To Laboratory Animals, Sep 1, 2013
The Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals-Great Britain 2012 (1) show that... more The Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals-Great Britain 2012 (1) show that the level of animal experimentation and testing in Great Britain continues to rise. Just over 4.1 million procedures on 4 million animals were started in that year (Figure 1). This is a significant increase of 8% over the 2011 total, and again exceeds the greatest number of procedures conducted since the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA) came into force-45% more procedures than the smallest number ever conducted, in 2001. In 2011, it appeared that the seemingly unstoppable surge in genetic alteration might be abating (2), with breeding declining ever so slightly, and the increase in overall procedures being more attributable to rises in the number of experiments involving fish and birds. However, these most-recent statistics indicate that this was probably a blip, and that genetic alteration will continue to dominate in procedures involving mice and, increasingly, fish. These procedures are discussed below. As always, the main types of animals used were mice, fish and rats, which together were involved in 94% of all the procedures. In contrast, primates, cats and dogs accounted for 0.1% of the procedures. The largest increases in procedures in 2012 involved primates (up 22% to 3,020), mice (up 14% to 3,058,821), guinea-pigs (up 10% to 12,740), and dogs (up 6% to 4843). Notable decreases were in procedures involving reptiles and amphibians (down 13% to 14,210), fish (down 11% to 500,830), and rabbits (down 10% to 13,866). Other changes in use, by species, are shown in Table 1. The proportions of the procedures conducted for specific purposes all decreased in 2012, with the exception of breeding. As noted above, the majority of the procedures were conducted for the breeding of genetically-altered (GA) animals (48%; Figure 2), which accounted for 5% more of the total procedures than in 2011. This was followed by procedures for fundamental biological research purposes, which decreased to 32% of the total procedures in comparison to 35% in the previous two years. The actual number of procedures for fundamental research decreased by just under 34,800 (-2.6%). The proportion of procedures carried out for human medicine or dentistry fell for the second year running, these being the focus of 12% of the procedures, compared to 14% in 2010. For the past ten years, the majority of the procedures performed have been conducted in univer
To the extent reasonable and practicable the material made available in Nottingham ePrints has be... more To the extent reasonable and practicable the material made available in Nottingham ePrints has been checked for eligibility before being made available.
Atla-alternatives To Laboratory Animals, Sep 1, 2014
The annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 2013 (1) show that... more The annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 2013 (1) show that animal experimentation and testing in Great Britain continues its upward trend, and that the genetic alteration of animals is the dominant reason. In 2013, the overall increase was smaller than that of previous years, rising 0.3% from 2012 values to 4.12 million procedures, which were conducted on just over 4 million animals (Figure 1). This increase is almost exclusively due to the breeding and use of genetically-altered (GA) animals (i.e. genetically-modified animals, plus those with harmful genetic defects). Procedures involving GA animals accounted for 61% of all the procedures conducted, and have increased by 3.2% to just over 2.5 million. In stark contrast, in 2013, procedures involving 'normal' animals decreased by 4% to 1.6 million (Figure 2). This trend threatens to undermine the Government's commitment to "work to reduce the use of animals in scientific research", as well as making a mockery of the EU policy to move away from the use of animals in biomedical research, as detailed below.
ATLA (Alternatives to Laboratory Animals), 2016
The Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 2015 indicate that... more The Annual Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 2015 indicate that the Home Office were correct in recommending that caution should be exercised when interpreting the 2014 data as an apparent decline in animal experiments. The 2015 report shows that, as the changes to the format of the annual statistics have become more familiar and less problematic, there has been a re-emergence of the upward trend in animal research and testing in Great Britain. The 2015 statistics report an increase in animal procedures (up to 4,142,631) and in the number of animals used (up to 4,069,349). This represents 1% more than the totals in 2013, and a 7% increase on the procedures reported in 2014. This paper details an analysis of these most recent statistics, providing information on overall animal use and highlighting specific issues associated with genetically-altered animals, dogs and primates. It also reflects on areas of the new format that have previously been highl...
ATLA (Alternatives to Laboratory Animals), 2012
ATLA (Alternatives to Laboratory Animals), 2012
The 2011 Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals reveal that the level of animal ex... more The 2011 Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals reveal that the level of animal experimentation in Great Britain continues to rise, with almost 3.8 million procedures being conducted. Unlike those in previous years, this increase is not exclusively due to the breeding and utilisation of genetically altered animals, although they are still involved in the greatest proportion of procedures. That a shift toward fundamental research may have become the primary cause of increases in animal experiments is discussed. The general trends in the species used, and the numbers and types of procedures, are reviewed. In addition, some areas of concern and optimism are outlined.
Non-human primate experimentation provokes passionate and opposing exchanges, particularly in the... more Non-human primate experimentation provokes passionate and opposing exchanges, particularly in the UK. This disagreement contributes to an impasse which in turn has prevented the exploration of the important question, if and how primate research could be ended. This project aims to support the examination of this question of impasse presenting data on how it might be overcome by providing a novel and challenging perspective using a multi-method approach, and insights from science and technology studies, to better understand the animal research controversy. The project primarily draws on data from face-to-face semi-structured interviews with primate users and with scientists who do not use primates across two areas of research, namely schistosomiasis and Parkinson’s disease. This multiple-case study method was combined with a documentary analysis of primate reports produced by key stakeholders. The dataset was then analysed using a semi-inductive, thematic approach to identify how asp...
The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Health, Illness, Behavior, and Society, 2014
Alternatives to laboratory animals : ATLA, 2012
Alternatives to laboratory animals : ATLA, 2012
The 2011 Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals reveal that the level of animal ex... more The 2011 Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals reveal that the level of animal experimentation in Great Britain continues to rise, with almost 3.8 million procedures being conducted. Unlike those in previous years, this increase is not exclusively due to the breeding and utilisation of genetically altered animals, although they are still involved in the greatest proportion of procedures. That a shift toward fundamental research may have become the primary cause of increases in animal experiments is discussed. The general trends in the species used, and the numbers and types of procedures, are reviewed. In addition, some areas of concern and optimism are outlined.
Alternatives to laboratory animals : ATLA, 2012
The British Government's proposals for the transposition of European Directive 2010/63/EU are... more The British Government's proposals for the transposition of European Directive 2010/63/EU are discussed under five main headings: direct transposition without major effects on the UK legislation, introduction of stricter requirements in the Directive, retention of stricter controls in the Animals [Scientific Procedures] Act 1986, questions requiring further consideration, and matters of concern. The Home Office had published a consultation on the options in 2011, which resulted in 98 responses from organisations and 13,458 responses from individuals. Our main concerns relate to the use of non-human primates, the annual publication of the UK statistics on laboratory animal use, and the provision of greater transparency on how animals are used, and why. Finally, we conclude that the new Directive and its transposition into the national laws of the Member states provide a renewed opportunity for genuine commitment to the Three Rs, leading to progressive and significant Reduction, R...
Alternatives to laboratory animals : ATLA, 2011
The 2010 Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals showed that the level of animal ex... more 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. Here, the general trends in the species used and the numbers and types of procedures are reviewed. 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.
Alternatives to laboratory animals : ATLA, 2010
The latest report on experimental animal use in the EU indicates a slight decrease. However, the ... more The latest report on experimental animal use in the EU indicates a slight decrease. However, the figures, which are for 2008, show that around 12 million animals are still used in laboratories throughout Europe. To date, only a summary of the data has been published, and so this report is limited to giving a comparison of trends and significant changes. The impact on the figures of the revision of Directive 86/609/EEC and the 7th Amendment to the Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EEC is discussed. In addition, consideration is given to which areas of research and regulation will need to be closely monitored, and the importance of continuing to push for the implementation of Three Rs initiatives is highlighted.
Alternatives to laboratory animals : ATLA, 2009
Good experimental design and the appropriate use of statistical tests form the corner stone of hi... more Good experimental design and the appropriate use of statistical tests form the corner stone of high-quality scientific research. This is especially important when the experiments involve the use of laboratory animals, to ensure that their use is appropriate and that the minimum number of animals will be used that will provide data which are sufficiently statistically-sound to meet the objectives of the study. One way to raise awareness of the importance of efficient study design and analysis is to provide training courses. This paper reports the views of participants at two such training schools, with reference to why they felt that attendance was necessary and how effective they felt the experience had been. The implications of the responses are discussed, and considerations for future training events are noted.
Alternatives to laboratory animals : ATLA, 2009
Reduction is one of the Three Rs which can be readily achieved in practice. This can be done by c... more Reduction is one of the Three Rs which can be readily achieved in practice. This can be done by careful consideration of the experimental strategy and the implementation of good experimental design. Moreover, strategic planning leads to 'best' scientific practice and can have a positive impact on both refinement and replacement. The FRAME Reduction Steering Committee has developed a flow chart for an overall strategy for planning and conducting biomedical research. This, and important planning considerations for each of the steps proposed, are discussed. The strategy involves taking an initial overview and undertaking related background research, then planning a sequence of experiments expected to give satisfactory results with the least animal use and minimal severity, choosing an efficient design for each experiment in the sequence, reviewing the results of one experiment before progressing to the next, and conducting an overall analysis at the end of the programme. This a...
Alternatives to laboratory animals : ATLA, 2009
Established in 1998, the FRAME Reduction Committee (FRC) (now the FRAME Reduction Steering Commit... more Established in 1998, the FRAME Reduction Committee (FRC) (now the FRAME Reduction Steering Committee [FRSC]) has continued to pursue its aim of reducing the number of animals used in biomedical science. Through its expertise in statistics, experimental design, animal welfare and research on alternatives, it has contributed to raising awareness of the need for reduction and the means of achieving and demonstrating it. In recognising the need for training of scientists to appreciate and understand the concept of reduction, the FRSC has organised dedicated workshops and training schools. Some of the Committee's major achievements are described, and, bearing in mind the current year-on-year increases in the number of scientific procedures on animals, its future activities are outlined.
Alternatives to laboratory animals : ATLA, 2008
The publication of the Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 2007 e... more The publication of the Statistics of Scientific Procedures on Living Animals Great Britain 2007 earlier this year, revealed once again that animal experimentation is on the up. This can mainly be attributed to the continuing use of genetically modified mice and an increased interest in investigations and tests involving fish. Here, some of the general trends are described, developments of interest are discussed, and the implications of the statistics are explored.
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Papers by Michelle Hudson-Shore