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The 3Rs of Animal
Research and Beyond
Enabling High-Quality Humane
Research Involving Animals
My name is Dave Lewis.
I'm a professor of education for
professional and
sustainable development
in the School of Biomedical
Sciences University of Leeds
in the United Kingdom.
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Think about animal research.
The principal actors are the
research animals themselves.
These go anything from
single-cell protozoa
to water fleas, flies,
in the United Kingdom, at
least, predominantly rats and
mice but also can
include farm animals,
fish or wild animals.
They're typically called
laboratory animals,
however, laboratory
is not only the
traditional bioscience
research laboratory
but could be a farm.
It could be a wildlife park.
It could be a zoo.
We use animals for many
research purposes which
include understanding human
and animal biology and
disease, to develop
new medicines, for
safety testing, for education
and training in
higher education.
The laws governing
animal research
across the world
vary considerably.
Many countries don't have
any laws governing animal
research specifically.
They might be in
other laws as well.
Similarly, ethical review
and ethics committees are
in their infancy or non-existent
in many parts of the world.
Animals cannot give
informed consent.
Therefore working
with research animals
is a privilege and not a right.
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If we have to work
with research animals,
then we have to minimize
the harm to them.
This involves the principles of
humane experimental
technique introduced by
Russell and Burch in 1959
also known as the 3Rs.
So replacement as getting rid
of the use of animals in
research, refinement,
minimizing their pain, suffering
and distress and reduction,
reducing the number of
animals that we use.
