Replacing and reducing the use of animal experiments
26 Jul 2012
A record amount has been awarded for research to reduce animal experiments and improve animal welfare in the UK.
The government-funded NC3Rs has today announced 21 new grants totalling £5.1 million for research to replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in science - referred to it as ’the 3Rs’.
This is the largest single allocation of funding ever made for 3Rs research in the UK.
The latest funding is for projects that will find new ways to advance the 3Rs in a wide range of research programmes in which animals are used, from the causes of cancer and liver fibrosis to understanding the transmission of influenza virus and the effect of drugs on bone formation during osteoporosis.
Many of the projects involve multi-disciplinary teams, with biologists working with computational and mathematical modellers through to animal behaviour experts collaborating with neuroscientists.
Much of the new research focuses on developing and utilising cutting edge techniques, such as a novel nebuliser and cell culture system that will replace ferrets used for influenza research, and adapting MR Elastography, a non-invasive imaging technology which measures the elasticity of tissues, to take heart function measurements in rodents.
Innovative approaches will also be used to assess the welfare of non-human primates used in neuroscience research, including measuring the changes in the length of the ends of chromosomes in white blood cells as a novel marker of chronic stress.
NC3Rs Chief Executive, Dr Vicky Robinson said “The awards will ensure the UK continues to lead the world in developing new ways to minimise the use of animals in research and testing and improve animal welfare. We are extremely grateful to the BBSRC and MRC for making available another £1.9 million so that the NC3Rs could fund an additional six key projects.”
This year the NC3Rs had a joint call with the BBSRC for research proposals to develop new ways of measuring and assessing animal welfare, with the NC3Rs considering those proposals involving laboratory animals, and the BBSRC those involving livestock and companion animals.
The BBSRC provided an additional £900k to the NC3Rs to allow eight awards to be made by the NC3Rs totalling more than £2.3 million. In addition, the BBSRC will be awarding approximately £3.8 million to eight projects looking at livestock and companion animals.
The latest awards bring the Centre’s investment since 2004 to over £30 million on 131 different grants.
