Alternatives to use of animal experiments in teaching and research- A review

Abstract

The “Alternatives” or “Substitutes” is defined as anything from absolute to partial replacement of live animals in biomedical  research and testing. Russell and Burch have given their definition of “alternatives” as “the three Rs-Replacement,  Reduction and Refinement”. The 4th R i.e. Responsibility was added in 1995. Major areas of medicine and biology where  experimental animals are involved include-Developing new treatments for diseases (like multiple sclerosis, cancers, AIDS,  Alzheimer disease etc.), preparations of natural products used in medical research, safety testing of chemicals and drugs,  study of genetic disorders (like cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anaemia etc.), development of new diagnostic tests for diseases,  laboratory mice and stem cells etc. There are some demerits of animal experimental studies like inhumane treatment  of laboratory animals and an animals’ response to a drug can be different from that of human beings etc. The common  alternatives to experimental animals can be physico-chemical techniques, microbiological systems, tissue/organ culture  preparation, computer models, epidemiological surveys and plant analysis (e.g. toxicity assays in plants). Research methods  superior to using animals to learn about human disease or predict the safety of new drugs are stem cells, microdosing,  DNA chips, microfluidics chips, human tissue, new imaging technologies, and post-marketing drug surveillance and  alternative organisms [like lower vertebrates (e.g. Zebra fish), invertebrates (e.g. Drosophila melanogaster)]. Animal  ethics is an issue as important as the human welfare. More efforts need to be undertaken for effective implementation  of 4 Rs during laboratory use of animals. The increase in knowledge, improvement of health care and creation of useful  products that is derived from experimentation on animals, carries the cost of pain and distress that the animals experience.  There are provisions for ensuring that animal use is performed in a humane manner so as to minimize pain, distress or  discomfort. Various alternatives to animal use have been suggested, which need to be implemented in an effective manner.  The development in the field of science and technology should be brought to its advantage so that in the coming years  novel alternatives can be developed and the issue of ‘moral values’ in experimentations can be sorted out.