Ethics of Research involving animals
Replacements
Introduction
11.1 Replacing, as far as possible, the use of animals for experimental purposes is a highly desirable goal. Progress in reducing animal use, partly but not wholly through developing Replacements, has been made in the UK. Nevertheless over 2.7 million animals were still being used in experiments in 2003. In this chapter we explore the prospects for the Replacement approach. We begin by clarifying the use of the concepts of alternatives and Replacements. We then discuss several different notions within the concept of Replacement and differentiate between different forms (complete and incomplete). We consider the role of non-animal methods as ‘advanced’ methods, as adjuncts to animal experiments, and as a way of avoiding animal use altogether. We then turn to the potential for Replacement of animals in different areas of research, focusing on toxicity testing required by regulation, and basic research. We describe scientific and non-scientific barriers to further implementation of the approach, and comment on recent initiatives to overcome these. Replacement is only one of the Three Rs. Refinement, Reduction and Replacement are interrelated, and adjusting one can affect one or both of the others. We discuss Reduction and Refinement in Chapter 12.
Footnotes1 See, for example, Greek CR and Greek JS (2000) Sacred Cows and Golden Geese (New York: Continuum). See also New England
Anti-Vivisection Society (2004) Better Science: alternatives to animal research, available at:
http://www.neavs.org/betterscience/Alt-Contents.htm. Accessed on: 6 May 2005.