3NC3RS |
BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE
without animals, and new products
that enable better monitoring of
animal welfare during tests on the
effects of drugs on the nervous system.
Promoting high standards of
animal welfare remains essential
Emerging technologies are providing
scientists with an opportunity for the
first time to make significant strides
in replacing and reducing animal
experiments. Nevertheless, animal
use will continue to be necessary
for many areas of science for the
foreseeable future. Gene editing
approaches that allow animals to be
readily genetically modified will likely
increase overall numbers. We have an
obligation to ensure that any animal
suffering is kept to a minimum. One
of the areas we have championed is
better identification of pain so that
animals can get the right analgesia.
Research we have funded has shown
that changes in facial expressions in
animals such as mice, rats and rabbits
that normally conceal signs of suffering
can be used to identify those in pain.
We have developed posters to help
scientists use the so-called grimace
scale – 20,000 posters have been sent
to laboratories in 69 countries to date.
We have an
obligation to
ensure that
any animal
suffering is
kept to a
minimum
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»CASE STUDIES
Virtual heart for drug screening: Up to 50 per cent of
drugs are abandoned in development due to concerns
about adverse effects on the heart. This is despite
extensive testing, including on animals such as guinea
pigs, rabbits, dogs or monkeys. NC3Rs funding of
£512,000 to scientists at Oxford University has
contributed to the development of a computer model
to help replace the use of animals. The model
simulates heart function based on human data, and
tests with reference compounds show it is more
accurate than animals at predicting heart arrhythmia.
The computer model is being evaluated by four
pharmaceutical companies and has already led to a 30
to 33 per cent reduction in animal use for assessing
cardiac risk.
Ferrets in flu research: Each year seasonal flu kills
around 12,000 people in the UK. Occasionally the
influenza virus transfers between species, leading
to flu pandemics. Ferrets are used in flu research as
they get the infection like humans. In the research,
ferrets are infected with the virus and then housed
with other ferrets. The spread of the virus from donors
to sentinels is used to study factors affecting virus
transmission. For some studies, up to 64 sentinels are
used. With NC3Rs funding of £400,000, scientists at
Imperial College London have developed a device that
avoids using sentinels in some studies. Instead, the
donor sits in a tunnel for up to ten minutes and its
exhaled breath is channelled along an attached tube,
which contains cells that are highly susceptible to
influenza viruses, allowing transmission to be studied.
How to pick up a mouse: Laboratory mice are usually
picked up by the base of the tail, so that they can
be moved between cages, taken for experiments, or
examined to check their welfare. With NC3Rs funding
of £120,000 scientists at Liverpool University have
shown that picking up mice using the tail causes
anxiety and that the mouse’s welfare can be improved
by instead using a small tunnel or a cupped hand.
The quality of data in experiments can be affected by
whether an animal is stressed or not and the research
also demonstrated that in behavioural studies, more
reliable results are obtained when the mice are picked
up by the refined methods rather than the tail. The
research could benefit the welfare of tens of millions
of mice worldwide.
Picking up mice using
a tunnel rather than
by their tale improves
animal welfare
Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett, MP
Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles, MP
