Animal testing: still essential for scientific research

Medical Principles and Practice, 2013

International Journal of Biological Innovations, 2019

The discovery of new drugs involves their testing on animals for efficacy as well as safety before the approval. Millions of animals are being sacrificed to fulfill this need. But experimentation on animals during the past years has created a matter of attention to the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) for better care and handling of animals. The main aim of these committees is to reduce and finally exclude the animal use from the area of research with appropriate alternatives. Various alternative methods and organisms have been implemented and used respectively in this aspect in the last few years. Alternatives of animals serve the same purpose as that of utilizing whole animal for testing. The techniques such as in vitro method, computer model, stem cell, alternative organisms, use of biotechnology etc. might eventually replace the use of animals for testing and these approaches may provide an insight to minimum utilization of animals in s cientific research. Some alternatives of animal testing have been discussed in this article with some examples.

International journal of immunopathology and pharmacology, 2016

Animal experiments that are conducted worldwide contribute to significant findings and breakthroughs in the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of various diseases, bringing up appropriate clinical interventions. However, their predictive value is often low, leading to translational failure. Problems like translational failure of animal studies and poorly designed animal experiments lead to loss of animal lives and less translatable data which affect research outcomes ethically and economically. Due to increasing complexities in animal usage with changes in public perception and stringent guidelines, it is becoming difficult to use animals for conducting studies. This review deals with challenges like poor experimental design and ethical concerns and discusses key concepts like sample size, statistics in experimental design, humane endpoints, economic assessment, species difference, housing conditions, and systematic reviews and meta-analyses that are often neglected. If prac...

Journal of Oral Tissue Engineering, 2009

Worldwide, animal use figures for scientific purposes have been conservatively estimated as approximately 127 million in 2005. Over 11 million living non-human vertebrates were used within Japan in 2004. This was second only to the USA, which used approximately 17 million animals in 2005. The scientific and regulatory limitations inherent within the use of animal models during human clinical and toxicological investigations are substantial, and increasingly recognized. A previous trend of decreasing animal use is reversing, largely due to increased use of genetically-modified animals, and the implementation of largescale chemical testing programs. These developments demonstrate the need for considerably greater awareness and implementation of the 3Rs the replacement, reduction and refinement of laboratory animal use within governmental, academic and commercial sectors. These principles are widely recognized as essential to good laboratory animal practice. They may increase research quality and the robustness of procedures; result in reduced timeframes and resource consumption; and provide more reliable human clinical and toxicological outcomes. An overview of 3Rs principles, and of strategies likely to increase their implementation, is therefore provided. Combinations of such strategies may have synergistic effects, improving scientific outcomes whilst decreasing animal use.

The use of animals in scientific research has always generated intense public debate and remains unacceptable in principle to some laymen as well as some scientists even today for many reasons These reasons range from the concern for the welfare of laboratory animals used for experimentation, failure of animal models to adequately represent human disease and, to some laymen and scientists, questioning the very notion that initial animal experimentation of new drugs is of any benefit to mankind However, most objective scientists and many members of the public agree that animal research should be permitted as long as it is carried out for good reason, using humane conditions as much as possible, where there are no feasible alternatives and under strict regulation This is because most scientists agree that experiments involving the use of animals have great potentials like facilitating innovation, developing platform technologies and very often providing a link with clinical trials. In addition, animal experimentation is useful in exploring disease mechanisms, in validating and testing new targets for drug research and in providing insights into drug toxicity and interactions Historically, animals have been used for a wide range of scientific research that has proved beneficial to mankind, particularly in relation to the advancement of scientific knowledge, drug development for use in animals and humans, training in surgical techniques, the safety of chemical products and, very importantly, the safe development of vaccines Animal experimentation was frowned upon by laymen and scientists primarily because of the pain and suffering to which some scientists subjected experimental animals between the 19th and mid-20th centuries. At the present time, most non-scientists (including many people with concerns for animal welfare) and scientists agree that a world in which the important benefits of scientific research can be tapped but without causing undue pain, distress, suffering or death to the animals being used for research should be the ultimate goal The use of laboratory animals can still be justified today in the following areas of research: basic scientific research, use of animals as models for human diseases, pharmaceutical research and development, toxicity testing and surgical skills training or simulation This is because there are inherent limitations in the use of alternatives like in vitro study, human clinical trials or computer simulation. It should be noted that there are problems of transferability of results obtained from animal research to humans. Efforts are ongoing to find suitable alternatives to animal experimentation. Among the methods being explored are cell and tissue culture, computer simulation and postmortem research

Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal, 2015

The number of animals used in research has increased with the advancement of research and development in medical technology. Every year, millions of experimental animals are used all over the world. The pain, distress and death experienced by the animals during scientific experiments have been a debating issue for a long time. Besides the major concern of ethics, there are few more disadvantages of animal experimentation like requirement of skilled manpower, time consuming protocols and high cost. Various alternatives to animal testing were proposed to overcome the drawbacks associated with animal experiments and avoid the unethical procedures. A strategy of 3 Rs (i.e. reduction, refinement and replacement) is being applied for laboratory use of animals. Different methods and alternative organisms are applied to implement this strategy. These methods provide an alternative means for the drug and chemical testing, up to some levels. A brief account of these alternatives and advantages associated is discussed in this review with examples. An integrated application of these approaches would give an insight into minimum use of animals in scientific experiments.

With the advancement of development in research and medical technology the number of animals used in research has increased significantly. Every year millions of experiments are carried out over the world on animals. For a long time the distress, pain and death have been a debating issue. Beside the major concern of ethics there are few more disadvantages of animal experimentation like high costs, time consuming protocols and requirement of skilled manpower. To overcome the drawback associated with animal experiments and unethical procedures various alternatives were proposed. A strategy of 3 Rs i.e. reduction, refinement and replacement is being applied for laboratory use. To implement this strategy different methods and alternative organisms are applied. Up to some levels these methods provide an alternative means for the drug testing. A brief account of these alternative and advantages is discussed in this review. These approaches would give an insight into minimum use of these in scientific related experiments.

Archives of Internal Medicine, 1988

Throughout the history invertebrate and vertebrate models have been used in fundamental and goal-oriented scientific research to gain new information on cell and organ anatomy, mechanisms of the diseases and methods to prevent them, behavioral research, for production, development, testing of quality and safety of drugs, food, cosmetic and other products, and to answer scientific questions that would have been impossible to be gathered directly from humans. Although researchers are continually developing non-animal models, research on complex multigenic diseases and therapeutics testing sometimes require the use of in vivo models. It is generally recognized that in the absence of human data, animal research in many cases can offer most accurate approximations and predictions of human responses.