Alternatives to Animal Testing

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Alternatives to Animal Testing 
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Preclinical Studies

• The number of animals used in preclinical
  studies is continuously increasing. Each year
  millions of experimental animals across the world
  are sacrificed in the name of scientific
  research.
• The pain, distress and death experienced by the
  animals during scientific experiments have been
  an issue of debate since long.
• Besides the major concern of ethics, there are
  few more disadvantages of using animals for
  scientific experiments, like requirement of
  skilled manpower, time consuming protocols, and
  high cost.

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Considering these disadvantages, many
alternatives to animal testing have been
proposed. Currently, a strategy of 3Rs
(reduction, refinement, and placement) is being
applied for using animals in research labs.
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Strategy of 3Rs

• The strategy of 3Rs was first suggested by
  Russell and Burch in 1959 to make animal
  experiments more human and ethical.
• Their approach motivates to use minimum number of
  animals in an experiment, plan and refine
  experiments to minimize pain and distress to the
  animals, and finally replace higher animals with
  alternative methods and lower organisms.

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1) Reduction

• In vitro cell cultures have provided a safe
  alternative to reduce the use of animals in lab
  testing. By using in vitro cell cultures like
  human hepatocyte culture, embryonic stem cell
  culture etc., you can easily get relevant
  information about the metabolism and excretion of
  drugs from the body.
• Inclusion of these methods in study design and
  sharing of the discovered data will eliminate
  unsuitable drug compounds in preliminary stages
  and minimize the use of animals in further
  research.

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2) Refinement

• When the cage environment of the animals used in
  experiments is not suitable, it adds to the
  stress on animals. Their hormone levels fluctuate
  and the results are not satisfactory. Thus, the
  experiments have to be repeated causing an
  increase in the use of experimental animals.
• The experiments can be refined by enriching the
  cage environment of the experimental animals.
  This not only reduces the pain and discomfort in
  animals, but will also improve the quality of
  research.

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3) Replacement

• Various alternatives like in vitro cell cultures,
  computer models, and new imaging techniques are
  now being used in place of experimental animals.
• Besides reducing the use of animals, these
  alternative methods are time-effective,
  cost-effective, and require less manpower.

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a) Cell and Tissue Cultures

• Use of in vitro cell and tissue cultures involves
  the growth of cells outside the body in a
  laboratory environment and offer an important
  alternative for animal experiments.
• The cells and tissues from the liver, kidney,
  brain, skin etc. are removed from an animal and
  kept outside the body in a suitable growth medium
  for few days to several months or years.
• Cell cultures are routinely used in preclinical
  studies to know the toxicity and efficacy of
  potential drug molecules. They are cost and
  time-effective and easy to follow.

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b) Computer Models

• Computers help us to understand the basic
  principles of biology. Specialized computer
  models and software programs have been designed
  to predict the various possible biological and
  toxic effects of a chemical or potential drug
  candidate without animal dissection.
• This way unsuitable drug gets eliminated in
  primary screening and only the most promising
  ones are used for animal experimentation.
• These software programs give speed and
  cost-effectiveness to the preclinical studies.

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c) Alternative Organisms

• Owing to the ethical issues regarding the use of
  experimental animals like pigs, rats, dogs, and
  monkeys, use of alternative organisms has been
  proposed.
• Different model organisms that can be used as
  alternatives to animals include micro-organisms
  such as bacteria and fungi, lower vertebrates
  like zebra fish, and invertebrates like flies.
• These alternative organisms reduce the required
  working space, cost of laboratory solutions, test
  chemicals and the manpower besides the use of
  experimental animals.

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• Thus, the issue of animal ethics cant be ignored
  and more efforts must be undertaken to
  effectively implement the 3 Rs strategy during
  laboratory use of animals.
• For this, various computer models, in vitro cell
  cultures, enzymatic screens, and alternative
  model organisms must be integrated. The
  integrated approach would result in minimum
  involvement of animals in preclinical research.

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