Suffering for science

Suffering for science
May 7th 2009
From The Economist print edition

Europe votes for better regulation of animal experiments
FIFTY years ago, William Russell, a classics scholar, and Rex Burch, a microbiologist, outlined how the use of animals in scientific research could be made more humane. They wanted scientists to restrict the use of animals, to refine their experiments to minimise distress and to replace testing on animals with alternative techniques. Although the “3Rs” have become a guiding principle, the number of animals used today remains far higher than Russell and Burch would have accepted. Finally, that may be changing. On May 5th the European Parliament voted to update the rules on the use of animals in research.


Some 12m animals are used in scientific procedures each year in Europe. Most are mice and rats. The European directive on how such animals should be treated dates from 1986, long before research led to the breeding of the first creatures that carried the genes of another species. Some countries have more restrictions than others. Britain, for example, uses far fewer primates in scientific research than does France. The European Commission said in November 2008 that it wanted to update the rules to better protect laboratory animals throughout Europe. It received hundreds of amendments, but has adopted few of them.
In particular, the politicians decided against an outright ban on the use of great apes. Instead they voted to allow such experiments only when they are intended to conserve the number of chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orang-utans, or when using these species becomes essential to tackling a disease that threatens people. In practice, no great apes have been used in Europe for years and there are no breeding colonies from which to take them. In America, chimpanzees are being used to develop a vaccine for hepatitis C because they are the only creatures, other than humans, to be afflicted by the disease.
Another proposal was to ban the use of primates caught in the wild. Scientists prefer to work with the offspring of animals raised in laboratories because knowledge of the creatures’ complete medical history makes them more dependable.All experiments will be classified according to the degree of pain and distress they cause. If mild or moderate, animals can be used again. Those that experience severe pain will be killed. The legislation would allow mild procedures to be approved by an employer. But those causing moderate or severe pain would need the permission of a national authority.