Sixth international conference on replacement and humane use of animals in experiments

Tamara Diesch and Yasuo Ohno
Congratulations to Tamara Diesch
from Massey University for her Young
Scientist's Award at the Sixth World
Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use
in the Life Sciences, seen here
with Yasuo Ohno, President of the
Congress Organising Committee

Over 1000 scientists, regulators, students, animal protection society representatives and others recently attended the Sixth World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Tokyo, Japan. Dr Kate Littin from MAF Biosecurity New Zealand's Animal Welfare Directorate, was one of four New Zealanders invited to present papers at the Congress.

Attendees enjoyed a packed programme that covered the application and barriers to implementation of all 'Three Rs' (the replacement and reduction of animal use in science and refinement to avoid suffering) and the improvement of public participation in decision-making on animal use in science and teaching.

A major focus was techniques to replace the use of animals. The difficulties in discovery and validation of replacements were discussed and it was emphasised that regulatory and other barriers (such as commercial ownership) too often delayed their wider establishment. As a solution, Dr Thomas Hartung, Head of the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods – a key player in accelerating the development and international acceptance of replacement techniques – suggested 'let's go m.a.d.' through making a difference, mutual acceptance of data and more adequate detection of risk.

Refinement was seen as being an immediately available and easier to implement 'R'. Veterinarians (particularly lab animal specialists) and, more importantly, good communication between veterinarians, animal facility technicians and researchers, were seen as key in implementing refinement.

Improving public participation

Another focus was improving public participation in decision-making on animal use in experiments. Animal ethics committees and their overseas equivalents, open dialogue, web-based platforms for facilitating social networking and information sharing ('Web 2.0') and official information legislation were some of the options discussed for achieving this goal.

In an interesting twist, it was suggested that greater transparency would mean that assistance could be more quickly rendered to animals in labs in the event of natural disasters, such as the recent earthquake in Japan. A strong message coming from a number of animal protection organisations was that they represent community views on animal-based research.

Presenters from more than 30 countries showed that more importance is being placed on the Three Rs in more areas throughout the world. A number of parallel sessions for young scientists provided an opportunity for presentation of several original studies from many of these countries, ranging from a study of the impacts of conflict in the Middle East on animal use in science, to detailed descriptions of replacement techniques for research on bovine viral diarrhoea and tuberculosis in India.

Award for New Zealand young scientist

Tamara Diesch, a doctoral candidate from Massey University's Animal Welfare Science and Bioethics Centre won a Young Scientist's Award (see picture) for her work on pain awareness in newborn and young animals. Tamara uses Dr Craig Johnson's novel anaesthesia technique in her research (see below).

Other papers from New Zealand covered foetal awareness and pain (Auckland and Massey universities), severity assessment of animal use in New Zealand (David Bayvel, Director Animal Welfare, MAF Biosecurity New Zealand), implementation of the Three Rs prior to submission of proposals to animal ethics committees (Massey and Otago universities, and the New Zealand Veterinary Association) and home-cage behaviour as an indicator of welfare state in genetically modified mice (Dr Kate Littin from MAF Biosecurity New Zealand, and colleagues from Europe). Also, Dr Craig Johnson from Massey University spoke about his innovative technique for delivering pain research without pain that won him last year's National Animal Ethics Committee

Three Rs Award.

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Page last updated: 30 April 2008