Animal Experimentation in Research - The Senate Commission on Animal Protection and Experimentation - DFG

Page created by Kenneth Jensen
 
CONTINUE READING
Animal Experimentation in Research - The Senate Commission on Animal Protection and Experimentation - DFG
The Senate Commission on Animal Protection and Experimentation

Animal Experimentation in Research
Animal Experimentation in Research - The Senate Commission on Animal Protection and Experimentation - DFG
The Senate Commission on Animal Protection and Experimentation

Animal Experimentation in Research
Animal Experimentation in Research - The Senate Commission on Animal Protection and Experimentation - DFG
2                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                3

    Contents

    Foreword �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4   Animal experimentation and protection of animals:
    Introduction�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������6
                                                                                                                                             Ethical considerations
                                                                                                                                               Development of the concept of animal protection in Germany�������������������39
    Experiments with animals: Definition and figures                                                                                           Ethical aspects of animal experimentation and the principle of solidarity �� 40
         What is animal experimentation? �������������������������������������������������������������������������9                           Transferability from an ethical-legal viewpoint �����������������������������������������������45
         How many animals are used in research? �����������������������������������������������������������9                                  The Three Rs principle ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������47
         What are animals used for in research? �������������������������������������������������������������11                               Alternatives to animal experimentation�������������������������������������������������������������51
         What animal species are used?�����������������������������������������������������������������������������11                         Limitations to alternative methods �������������������������������������������������������������������55
         Developments across Europe �������������������������������������������������������������������������������13                         The Basel Declaration�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������56

    Animal experimentation in practice: Areas of use                                                                                         Animal experimentation in Germany:
         Basic research �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������17       From proposal to implementation
         Medical research������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 18            European regulations on animal experimentation �����������������������������������������59
         Nobel Prize worthy: Outstanding scientific findings�������������������������������������� 20                                         Animal experiments subject to authorisation���������������������������������������������������59
         Diagnostics�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������21       Legal basis ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 60
        Transplantation medicine ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������25                     Approval procedures �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������63
         Cell and tissue replacement in humans���������������������������������������������������������������25                               Conducting animal experiments�������������������������������������������������������������������������� 64
         Stem cell research�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������27            Qualified monitoring���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 68
         Genome research ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 28              Stress during animal experiments ���������������������������������������������������������������������� 68
         Neuroscience �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������31         Animal welfare group lawsuit �����������������������������������������������������������������������������71
         Veterinary research�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 32
         Animal experiments in education, training and professional development���� 35                                                      Appendix
        The basic assumption of transferability �������������������������������������������������������������35
Animal Experimentation in Research - The Senate Commission on Animal Protection and Experimentation - DFG
4                                                                                                                                                                       5

    Foreword

    Animal experiments are essential to basic biological and medical research – cre-     The brochure is the result of cooperation between members of the DFG Senate
    ating a classic dilemma as the acquisition of knowledge for the good of man-         Commission on Animal Protection and Experimentation and the DFG Head
    kind places a burden on animals. The protection of animals is high on the            Office in Bonn. At this point, I wish to thank everyone who has contributed
    agenda of most European countries and sets limits on research. In 2010, fol-         to the completion of the project by submitting texts and engaging in critical
    lowing long and controversial discussions, the European Parliament adopted           discussions.
    a EU directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. This
    directive provides new and more stringent regulations in many aspects, while         I hope that you will find it an illuminating read!
    also setting uniformly high standards across Europe for the approval of animal
    experiments and the accommodation and care of animals used for research
    purposes.

    The first edition of Animal Experiments in Research was first published in 2004 by
    the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation).
    Both the German-language and the English version are no longer available.
    The amendment to the German Animal Welfare Act in 2013 to bring it in line           Gerhard Heldmaier
    with the EU directive resulted in a number of changes to the approval process,       Chairperson of the Senate Commission on Animal Protection and
    placing a greater administrative burden on applicants than before. With this         Experimentation of the DFG
    revised edition, we aim to present an overview of the current legal require-
    ments, including practical information regarding the organisational processes
    for the application and the performance of tests on animals, as well as explain
    the legal and ethical principles of research using animal experimentation. In
    addition to the brochure, the DFG website offers further information – scien-
    tific papers, legal texts, application forms, etc. – which can be accessed under
    www.dfg.de/tierschutz (available only in German).

    In our society, discussions around animal experiments are controversial and
    often very emotional, not least because of the absence of factual information
    about the purpose of the experiments, the burden they place on the animals,
    or the results and potential benefits. Within the framework of the Basel Dec-
    laration, scientists have committed to engage in more communication with
    the public and to provide people with more information. This brochure there-
    fore also intends to inform the interested public about the scope and need for
    animal testing. On the basis of specific examples and explanations of scientific
    methods, we endeavour to explain the principles of experimental animal re-
    search and thereby provide a contribution to a more objective debate on the
    topic.
Animal Experimentation in Research - The Senate Commission on Animal Protection and Experimentation - DFG
NOBEL PRIZES          Emil von Behring                                                 Ronald Ross                                                          Ivan Pavlov
6                  1901   The function of serum therapy,
                                                                                    1902   Scientific research
                                                                                                                                                        1904    The physiology of digestion
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               7
                          particularly in cases of diphtheria                              on malaria

    Introduction
                                                                                                                 The genetic material of animals contains similar characteristics to the genetic material of humans. This
                                                                                                                 makes e.g. the fruit fly a suitable candidate for research into human life processes and diseases.

    The analysis of the hereditary informa-                     searchers of viewing human beings as
    tion (DNA) of complex animals – such                        superior to animals. Another critique
    as the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster,                   states that results from animal experi-
    the mouse, rat, pig, cow or the human                       ments are not transferable to human
    being – is one of the most important                        beings and that animals are made to
    scientific achievements of recent years.                    suffer solely to satisfy scientific curi-
    Great progress also has been made in                        osity. From today’s perspective, some
    other areas of the life sciences, includ-                   animal experiments conducted in the
    ing new insights into the structure of ri-                  early days of animal research do in
    bosomes (the protein factories of body                      fact seem cruel, although the same is
    cells) and into the astonishing plastic-                    true of surgical procedures performed
    ity of stem cells. These findings provide                   on humans. This is mainly due to
    new insights into the complexity of                         insufficient surgical techniques and
    vital processes, improve medical care                       anaesthetic options at the time. The
    and nutrition for human beings and                          discovery of anaesthesia in the 19th
    animals in the long run, and thereby                        century was a godsend for humans
    contribute to an increase in the quality                    and animals alike, and today, its use
    of life and life expectancy.                                in animal testing is obligatory as well
                                                                as routine.
    Considerable progress is however not
    conceivable without the use of ani-                         The criticism of animal testing has
    mals in research. Only with the help                        led to the formulation of rules gov-             specialist researchers as well as repre-                     mals used for scientific purposes. The
    of animal experiments has it been                           erning the use of animals in scientific          sentatives from animal protection or-                        directive stresses three principles that
    possible to understand human and                            experiments as early as the 19th cen-            ganisations, advises the authority. The                      must be met to ensure animal welfare
    animal life processes. This includes                        tury. These have been continuously               decision on the proposal is informed                         in scientific research. This is referred
    the function of sensory organs and of                       expanded ever since. The German                  first and foremost by an evaluation of                       to as the Three Rs principle: Reduc-
    the nervous, hormonal and immune                            Animal Welfare Act is one of the most            the indispensability of the experiment.                      tion and Refinement of experimental
    systems, as well as that of individual                      stringent acts worldwide. It ensures             This means that the proposal must                            methods as well as the development
    genes, which can only be decoded                            that animal tests are conducted only             contain plausible arguments provid-                          of Replacement and complementary
    within the context of the total organ-                      within the confines of socially accept-          ing evidence that the scientific goal                        methods of animal testing. In addition,
    ism. For research of such complex                           able norms and are subject to govern-            cannot be attained without the use of                        the EU directive contains a number of
    processes in the intact living organism,                    ment control. Every animal experi-               animal tests or alternative methods.                         new regulations on the approval and
    animal testing will also be necessary                       ment for biomedical research purposes                                                                         performance of animal tests. In July
    in future.                                                  requires a written application to the            In order to safeguard a high bioethical                      2013, the German Animal Welfare Act
                                                                competent authority of the relevant              standard within animal experimental                          was revised and adapted to the Euro-
    There have always been opponents                            state and must contain a detailed jus-           research across Europe, the European                         pean directive. Old regulations were
    to animal testing. Now as well as in                        tification for the experiment. An ani-           Parliament in 2010 adopted Directive                         retained and supplemented with new
    the past, opponents have accused re-                        mal welfare committee, consisting of             2010/63/EU on the protection of ani-                         specifications.
Animal Experimentation in Research - The Senate Commission on Animal Protection and Experimentation - DFG
Robert Koch
                              1905   Transmission and treatment
                                                                                                9
                                     of tuberculosis

Experiments with animals:
Definition and figures

What is animal experimen-                           The killing of animals for the sole pur-
tation?                                             pose of organ extraction or the produc-
                                                    tion of cells does not constitute animal
The German Animal Welfare Act de-                   experimentation. Cells or organs are
fines animal experimentation as inter-              either examined directly or used to
ventions and manipulations in animals               create cell and tissue cultures. Such in
if this is associated with suffering, pain          vitro cultures can supplement or par-
and injury to the animals. This applies             tially replace experiments on live ani-
to all procedures subjecting animals to             mals and make it possible to develop
stress “equivalent to, or higher than,              alternatives to animal testing. About
that caused by the introduction of a                one-third of all animals used for re-
needle in accordance with good veteri-              search purposes is utilised for these in-
nary practice” (Article 3, 2010/63/EU).             vitro methods.
In reality this means that each proce-
dure carried out on animals for scien-
tific purposes must be recorded as an               How many animals are
animal experiment and approved by                   used in research?
an authority. Approval is required for
all vertebrates, cephalopods (e.g. octo-           The German Ministry of Food and Ag-
puses) and decapods (e.g. lobsters).               riculture and the Federal Statistical
                                                   Office annually record the total num-
As part of the approval process by the             ber of all animals used in Germany.
competent authority, the reason for                In 2014, 2.798 million animals were
the use of animals as well as their liv-           used for research purposes. Included
ing and care conditions are examined.              in this are 2.008 million animals used
Approval for an animal test is granted             in animal testing and 789,926 used
only for the purposes expressly speci-             for organ extraction. The number of
fied in the German Animal Welfare                  animals needed for research purposes
Act. This includes basic research, ap-             corresponds to 0.35% of all 795 mil-
plied research for the prevention,                 lion animals used in Germany – this
detection and treatment of diseases,               small percentage is essential for gain-
quality and efficacy testing of drugs,             ing knowledge about the natural ba-
forensic investigations, environmen-               sis of life and for medical progress. At
tal protection, promoting animal well-             788 million, the largest proportion of
being, improvement of animal hous-                 animals were cattle, pigs, poultry and
ing conditions, conservation of species,           sheep; these were slaughtered to pro-
as well as education, training and pro-            vide food for human consumption.
fessional development.                             Another 4 million animals were killed
Animal Experimentation in Research - The Senate Commission on Animal Protection and Experimentation - DFG
Camillio Golgi, Santiago Ramón y Cajal                                          Alphonse Laveran                                                       Ilya Mechnikow, Paul Ehrlich
10    1906     The structure of the
                                                                                      1907     The causative role of
                                                                                                                                                               1908   Immunity in
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      11
               nervous system                                                                  protozoa in diseases                                                   infectious diseases

     by hunting. Fishing and pest control                                       in scientific research. Fish larvae can                in 2013 by approx. 3% (2.997 mil-                     Numerous animal tests are conducted
     also involve the killing of animals, but                                   be very small, so that direct counting                 lion) compared to the previous year,                  within the framework of consumer
     these are not counted.                                                     is not possible and the number of lar-                 and in 2014 by another 6.6% (2.798                    protection and are required by law
                                                                                vae can only be estimated. This initial                million).                                             (so-called “regulatory purposes”).
     Since 2014, animals used for scien-                                        figure is not included in the figures                                                                        About 23.7% of all test animals in
     tific purposes are registered accord-                                      published by the German Ministry of                                                                          Germany are used for such safety
     ing to a new Europe-wide reporting                                         Food and Agriculture.                                  What are animals used for                             checks, quality controls or toxico-
     procedure. Newly introduced was the                                                                                               in research?                                          logical tests in accordance with the
     registration of independently feeding                                      There has been a slight decrease in                                                                          legislation on chemicals, medicines
     larval forms. The first count showed                                       the overall number of animals used                     The majority of animals in science                    and food hygiene. These tests are re-
     that 563,000 animal larvae were used                                       for scientific research in recent years:               are used in basic research (31.1%)                    quired for the approval of drugs and
                                                                                                                                       and in “translational and applied re-                 other substances with which humans
                                                                                                                                       search” (11.9%). The latter are pro-                  come into contact.
      Chart 1:
                                                                                                                                       jects that test basic research findings
      Percentage of animals used for specific research purposes
                                                                                                                                       for medical applications. Basic re-
                                                                                                                                       search and translational and applied                  What animal species are
                                                                                                                                       research are closely interconnect-                    used?
                                                                                                                                       ed, and their combined percentages
                                                                                     Basic research: 31.1%                             make up the expenditure for medical                   Animals used in research are mainly
                                                                                     Translational and applied research: 11.9%         research (43%). Animal experimen-                     small mammals such as mice, rats,
        28.2%                                                                                                                          tation in medical research is conduct-                guinea pigs and rabbits; fish and birds
                                                                      31.1%          Conservation breeding programmes of genetically   ed to clarify previously unknown life                 are used for specific investigations.
                                                                                     modified, burdened animal colonies: 2.8%
                                                                                                                                       processes and fundamental biological                  Mice (1.901 million in 2014, 68%)
                                                                                     Quality control, toxicology and                   relationships. In turn, these findings                and rats (13%) are still the most
                                                                                     other safety evaluations: 23.7%                   are used to improve diagnostics and                   commonly used animals and are also
                                                                                     Environmental protection for the benefit          treatment of human illnesses and                      most often killed for organ extraction.
     1.8%                                                                            of humans and animals: 0.2%                       diseases.                                             The decoding of the mouse genome
                                                                                                                                                                                             a few years ago, and the relatively
     0.3%                                                                            Conservation of species: 0.3%
        0.2%
                                                                                                                                       About 28.2% of animals used in re-                    simple manipulation of this genome
                                                                                     Education, training and                           search are not exposed to experimen-                  from a technical point of view, makes
                                                                 11.9%               professional development: 1.8%                    tal treatments while alive but are put                the mouse by far the most important
                     23.7%
                                                        2.8%                         Animals killed for scientific purposes            down to gain cells or tissues. These                  research species as it offers insights
                                                                                     (not animal tests): 28.2%                         samples are used to examine basic                     into the genetic foundations of life
                                                                                                                                       biochemical processes on a cellular                   processes and diseases. The slight
                                                                                                                                       level and test new pharmacological                    drop in animal experiment num-
      Source: Statistics of the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture, 2014                                                          treatment methods. Ultimately, this                   bers over the last two years is mainly
                                                                                                                                       percentage must also be allocated to                  due to a reduction in the number of
                                                                                                                                       the cost of medical research.                         mice and rats. The use of fish has in-
Animal Experimentation in Research - The Senate Commission on Animal Protection and Experimentation - DFG
Albrecht Kossel                                                                                      Alexis Carrel
12                                            1910      Cell chemistry and
                                                                                                                                                      1912   The development of techniques
                                                                                                                                                                                                                   13
                                                        cell nucleus substance                                                                               for suturing blood vessels

     Chart 2:                                                                                                          creased over the last few years (cur-             Research on wild animals, however,
     Animal consumption and animal species used for research purposes                                                  rently 9.8%) as the zebrafish genome              is possible, but severely restricted
                                                                                                                       was decoded and enabled insights                  and subject to special requirements.
                                                                                                                       into the origins of the life processes            To safeguard the protection of spe-
                                                                                                                       in vertebrates. Other species are used            cies as required by law, additional
                                                                                                                       only to a minor extent. Their number              approval by the relevant nature
                                                                                                                       may fluctuate slightly, but this has no           conservation authorities is required.
                                                                                                                       influence on the overall figures.                 Wildlife research mainly investigates
                     Food: 99.15%                                                                                                                                        the behaviour of animals and their
                                                                                                                       Since 1991, experiments on great                  interaction with their natural habi-
                                                                                                                       apes are no longer performed in Ger-              tats. The findings of such studies are
                                                                                                                       many, and other primates are used                 primarily used to protect species. In
                                                                                                                       only in small numbers. In 2014, the               most cases, the animals are merely
                                                                                                                       figure was 2,842, which corresponds               being observed and only exposed to
                                                                                                                       to about 0.1% of all research animals.            low levels of stress so as not to inter-
                                                                                                                       The most commonly used monkey                     fere with their natural behaviour.
                                                         Animals for research purposes (0.35%)                         species was the long-tail macaque
                                                                                                                       (2,100). In most cases (2,335 ani-
                              Hunting (0.50%)                                                                          mals), primates were used for legally             Developments across Europe
                                                                                                                       required scientific research, for ex-
                                                                                                                       ample in drug testing. Cats played                The European Commission also re-
                                                                                                 Mice: 68.0%
                                                                                                                       an even smaller role in research (997             cords the number of test animals in
                                                                                                 Rats: 13.0%           animals in 2014), and they too were               order to track the development with-
                                                                                                                       used mainly for legally required pur-             in Europe. For 2011 – more recent
                                                                                                 Birds: 2.0%           poses (519).                                      figures were not available at press
                                                                                                 Fish: 9.8%
                                                                                                                                                                         time – 11.5 million test animals were
                                                                                                                       The use of stray and feral dogs and               listed overall. Germany’s share in
                                             Rats: 13%                                           Rabbits: 3.8%         cats is prohibited in experimental                this figure is 2 million animals, be-
                                                                                                                       research with animals. They are not               cause European statistics – in con-
                                                                                                 Dogs: 0.1%
                                                                                                                       suitable for scientific research as their         trast to national records – only count
                                                                                 Mice: 68%                             origin, state of health and genetic               the actual animal experiments and
                                                                                                 Primates: 0.1%
                                                                                                                       background, as well as their previ-               not the killing of animals for organ
                                                                                                 Livestock: 0.8%       ous behaviour is unknown. Reliable                extraction.
                                                                                                                       and reproducible research results can
                                                                                                 Other animals: 2.4%
                                                                                                                       only be achieved under defined and                Compared with the last count, there
                                                                                                                       standardised conditions. This applies             has been a slight increase in the num-
         Source: Statistics of the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture, 2014
                                                                                                                       to the status of test animals as well             ber of test animals in some countries.
                                                                                                                       as all other experimental parameters.             In most European countries, how-
Animal Experimentation in Research - The Senate Commission on Animal Protection and Experimentation - DFG
Charles Richet
14                      1913   Discovery of hypersensitivity
                                                                                                                                                                  15
                               to antigens

                                                               The number of animal tests with amphibians – including the European tree frog – has more than
                                                               halved across Europe.

     ever, the number of test animals has
     remained fairly constant or has fall-
     en slightly, as in France and the UK.
     Across Europe, mice are also the most
     commonly used species for animal
     testing. Their share is 61%, followed
     by rats, guinea pigs, other rodents,
     and rabbits. The share of monkeys
     was 0.05%. Great apes have not
     been used since 1999. Since 2008,
     there has been a drop in the num-
     ber of amphibians (– 52%), monkeys
     (– 48%), birds (– 26.5%) and rodents
     (excluding mice) (– 19.9%), whereas
     the recorded numbers of fish (+ 29%),
     rabbits (+ 7.5%) and other mammals
     (+ 38%) have increased.

     At the European level, more than
     60% of animals were used for basic
     research and for the research and de-
     velopment of medical products and
     devices for human medicine, dentist-
     ry, and veterinary medicine. About
     19% of all animals were used for tests
     and checks of medical products and
     devices. The number of animals used
     in toxicological evaluations and other
     safety tests has remained relatively
     constant over the last few years, at
     about 9% – despite the introduction
     in 2006 of the EU’s REACH Directive
     (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisa-
     tion and Restriction of Chemicals),
     which stipulates that all chemicals
     used in larger quantities within the
     EU require safety information often
     based on animal studies.
Animal Experimentation in Research - The Senate Commission on Animal Protection and Experimentation - DFG
Jules Bordet
                      1919   Fundamental discoveries
                                                                                                  17
                             on immunity

Animal experimentation in practice:
Areas of use

Basic research                                         tacks or neurological conditions such
                                                       as Parkinson’s disease.
The aim of basic research is to gain
knowledge and insights. Basic re-                      Many results in basic research are ob-
search has no immediate application                    tained using cell cultures, because cul-
but provides the scientific basis for                  tured cells develop relatively quickly
further research and applications. Be-                 and homogeneously and can be direct-
cause of the similarity between hu-                    ly stimulated with hormones or other
mans and animals in terms of their                     chemicals. Cell cultures are always ar-
metabolic processes and function of                    tificial systems and provide only limit-
organs, knowledge gained in ani-                       ed insight into life processes. Yet they
mal experiments can provide a better                   are the only way to directly manipu-
understanding of life processes and                    late and measure biochemical pro-
their disturbances in both humans                      cesses in the cell. In cancer research,
and animals. Although the transfer-                    for example, isolated tumour cells are
ability of results from basic research                 used to identify the characteristics and
to its application cannot be planned                   causes of cell degeneration. The true
and its direct short-term benefit can-                 nature of cancer, however, becomes
not be predicted, scientific and medi-                 apparent only when its development
cal breakthroughs are not conceivable                  is viewed in connection with other
without the knowledge gained from                      cells and tissues in the body. In order
basic research.                                        to trace the development of a tumour
                                                       in the organism and test therapeutic
Animal testing is a necessity and of                   approaches, animal experiments are
particular importance where complex                    necessary in which tumour cells are
relationships between physiological                    transferred into mice.
processes and diseases can only be
studied on the living organism. This                   The close relationship between cellu-
applies in particular to studies on the                lar basic research and animal testing
functioning of the nervous, cardiovas-                 also plays a central role in research on
cular and immune systems, as well as                   infectious diseases. It is the only path
the action of hormones. Very dynamic                   to understanding how bacteria and vi-
developments are currently taking                      ruses infiltrate and attack the animal
place in the field of genome and stem                  organism. Insights into the interaction
cell research. It is hoped that new                    between viruses and their host cells
therapeutic approaches can emerge                      enable the targeted treatment of virus
from stem cell research, using cell and                infections such as influenza, herpes
tissue replacement to treat heart at-                  or smallpox, and the development of
August Krogh                                                             Archibald Hill, Otto Meyerhof                    Frederick Banting, John Macleod
18                             1920                                                                     1922                                             1923                                                  19
                                      Discovery of the capillary                                               Metabolism and heat generation                   Discovery of insulin
                                      motor regulating mechanism                                               of muscles

                                                                                                      Marmots reduce their body functions to a minimum during hibernation. A better understanding of this
                                                                                                      process could be conducive to saving the lives of seriously injured people.

     preventive measures. A visible result                injuries or in curbing the effects of a
     of this type of research is the progress             heart attack or stroke. Some clinics are
     made in the area of vaccinations. Only               already trying to trigger this process
     a few years ago was it discovered that               by subjecting patients to low tempera-
     papilloma viruses are involved in                    tures. Transplantation medicine too
     the development of cervical cancer.                  (see page 25f.) can benefit by increas-
     Without animal experiments on mice,                  ing the shelf life of organs.
     sheep, horses and goats, this discovery
     would not have been possible. A vac-
     cine against the viruses was success-                Medical research
     fully developed. The German virolo-
     gist Harald zur Hausen was awarded                   Medical progress is inextricably linked
     the Nobel Prize in Medicine for this                 with basic research. An example of
     work in 2008.                                        this is the development of treatment
                                                          methods for diabetes mellitus. In the
     Basic research projects initially aimed              1920s, insulin was identified as a hor-
     at gaining information about life pro-               mone that regulates blood sugar levels.
     cesses in animals may translate into                 Experiments on rabbits, dogs, pigs and
     medical benefits at a later stage. A case            cows helped to understand the effect of
     in point is the study on the hibernation             insulin on blood sugar levels and thus
     of marmots and other small mammals.                  contributed to the development of new
     Initially it was assumed that hiberna-               therapies. In 1923, the Canadian scien-
     tion is triggered by cold temperatures               tists Frederick Banting and John J. R.
     and lack of food, leading to a failure               Macleod were awarded the Nobel Prize
     of the temperature-regulating mech-                  for their discovery of insulin. Rabbits,
     anism. The latest studies of ground                  dogs and other mammals have been
     squirrels, dormice and marmots how-                  largely replaced by rats and mice in
     ever show that these animals actively                physiological research. The rapid re-
     stifle their metabolism and regulate                 production of these species permitted
     their body temperature to be near                    specific breeding for individual clinical
     freezing, and that breathing and heart               presentations. This includes, for exam-
     rate come to a near standstill. A new                ple, the “diabetes mouse” with raised
     way of regulating metabolism was                     blood sugar levels and the “Zucker rat”
     thus discovered that enables mammals                 that develops obesity.                      therapeutic applications in humans.                  medicine include the development of
     to switch from “normal operation”                                                                Among other topics, immunology ex-                   the antiserum to diphtheria (in which
     to “low flame”. To understand how                    Immunology provides numerous ex-            amines resistance to pathogens and                   experiments with guinea pigs were
     this switching process works could be                amples of the utilization of findings       the rejection of transplants after im-               instrumental), vaccines against yellow
     lifesaving in the treatment of severe                from animal experimentation for             plantation. Pioneering advances in                   fever and polio (mouse and monkey),
Willem Einthoven                                                                                      Johannes Fibiger
20                                1924   Electrocardiogram
                                                                                                                                        1926   Discovery of the nematode
                                                                                                                                                                                                           21
                                                                                                                                               Spiroptera carcinoma (cancer research)

                                                                                                   Emil von Behring was the first person to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1901. His serum
                                                                                                   therapy, which was tested on animals, is the basis for vaccinations today.

     studies on the pathogenesis of tu-                 have been awarded the Nobel Prize.
     berculosis (sheep and cattle), typhus              The first Nobel Prize went to the phys-
     (mouse, rat and monkey), malaria                   iologist Emil von Behring in 1901 for
     (dove), as well as antiretroviral agents           his work on the treatment of diph-
     to combat AIDS (monkey).                           theria. At the end of the 19th century,
                                                        nearly every second child died from
     The discovery of the effects of vita-              the disease. In 1890, von Behring and
     min C was studied in the guinea pig                his Japanese colleague Kitasato found
     and led to the insight that the effect of          that injecting low doses of the diph-
     vitamins is the same in animals as in              theria toxin triggered the formation
     humans. Hormones such as calcitonin                of antibodies in rats, mice and rabbits.
     from salmon are used in the medi-                  The animals were then protected for
     cal treatment of osteoporosis. Animal              life. Injecting the serum of immunised
     experiments have led to the develop-               animals also prevented the outbreak
     ment of new surgical techniques and                of the disease in other animals. Von
     to the refinement of operating meth-               Behring thus discovered one of the
     ods. The first experiments on tissue               basic principles of immunology – im-
     transplantation were performed in the              munity – and paved the way for the
     mouse as early as the start of the 20th            development of vaccinations.
     century. These days, animal models
     (mainly pigs, but also dogs and sheep)             The immense importance of animal
     are used for kidney transplantation,               experiments in biomedical research
     bone marrow transfer and heart sur-                and the resulting knowledge gain for
     gery, to develop new methods for the               medicine is revealed by the fact that
     cure or alleviation of organ diseases in           the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physi-
     humans. Artificial replacement organs,             ology (with one exception, i.e. Barbara
     having first been subjected to stand-              McClintock for her studies in the area
     ardised technical checks, are tested for           of plant genetics) in the last 40 years    of receptor proteins in the cell envelope               medical research, and enable micro-
     their biological compatibility in large            has always been awarded to scien-          of vertebrates, which plays an impor-                   scopical analysis of cellular processes
     animals such as pigs.                              tists whose studies included the use       tant function in various physiological                  that underlie the physiological func-
                                                        of animals (see timeline at the top of     processes. In 2008, Osamu Shimomura,                    tions of the organism and its diseases.
                                                        the page). Outstanding scientific find-    Martin Chalfie and Roger Y. Tsien were
     Nobel Prize worthy: Out-                           ings that have been awarded the Nobel      awarded the prize for the discovery of
     standing scientific findings                       Prize in Physics or Chemistry have also    the green fluorescent protein (GFP) in                  Diagnostics
                                                        made substantial contributions to pro-     the bioluminescent jellyfish Aequorea
     Since the beginning of the 20th cen-               gress. Two chemists, Robert Lefkowitz      victoria. This protein and several differ-              In countries of the Western world,
     tury, extraordinary achievements in                and Brian Kobilk, received the award       ent variants are now used as universal                  better hygiene conditions and medi-
     the area of physiology and medicine                for their research on an important class   molecular markers in biological and                     cal care have led to a decrease in neo-
Charles Nicolle
22                                                  1928       Research on typhoid
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     23

      Chart 3:                                                                                                                                    new diagnostic options. In 1979, the             In veterinary medicine, these highly
      The most common causes of death worldwide in percent                                                                                        American Allan M. Cormack and the                sensitive diagnostic procedures are of
                                                                                                                                                  Englishman Godfrey N. Hounsfield                 particular benefit to cats and dogs. Ex-
                                                                                                                                                  were awarded the Nobel Prize for                 perience in human medicine with ul-
                  Cardiovascular diseases                                                                                                         developing computer tomography.                  trasound diagnostics, X-rays and other
                                                                                                                                                  They mainly used pig models in their             imaging methods is also leveraged in
                       Infectious diseases
                                                                                                                                                  studies.                                         modern veterinary medicine.
                                    Cancer

                      Respiratory diseases
                                                                                                                                                  Computer tomography (CT) provides sectional images of the body. The pig was used as the model
                                 Accidents                                                                                                        organism in the development of this procedure, which was awarded the Nobel Prize.

         Infection of the respiratory tract

                           Infant mortality

      Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract

                                  HIV/AIDS

              Deliberately induced injuries

                              Tuberculosis

                Neuropsychiatric diseases

                                               0        5             10             15          20            25            30              35

        Source: Berlin Institute for Population and Development (Berlin-Institut für Bevölkerung und Entwicklung): S. Kröhnert, M. Karsch;
        Lebensspanne und Todesursachen früher und heute (Past and present life-spans and causes of death) (current as of 2013 on the
        basis of WHO data, 2008)

     natal mortality and increased life ex-                                      Refinement and improvement of di-
     pectancy. Despite this progress, many                                       agnostic processes is therefore one
     diseases can only be treated sympto-                                        of the focal points in research. Non-
     matically as their development has                                          invasive examination techniques
     not yet been adequately researched.                                         such as computer tomography (CT),
     Accordingly, society continues to have                                      positron emission tomography (PET),
     high expectations of future medical                                         magnetic resonance tomography
     advances and medical care.                                                  (MRT) and functional MRT (fMRT),
                                                                                 as well as the development of con-
     The successful treatment of many                                            trast agents and biomarkers (indica-
     diseases depends on early diagnosis.                                        tors of abnormal processes) open up
Christiaan Eijkman, Frederick Hopkins                                                                                               Charles Sherrington, Edgar Adrian
24    1929   The importance of vitamins
                                                                                                                                         1932    Research on the electrical
                                                                                                                                                                                             25
                                                                                                                                                 activity in neurons

     In xenotransplantation, cells or organs are transplanted from one animal species to another.
     At present, cancer cells in particular are inoculated into nude mice for research purposes.

                                                                                                    Transplantation medicine                    not been possible until now, trans-
                                                                                                                                                plantations of organ parts and tissues
                                                                                                    In 2014, 3,169 organ transplanta-           have produced some very good results,
                                                                                                    tions were performed in Germany. At         e.g. heart valve transplants of porcine
                                                                                                    the same time, 11,000 gravely ill pa-       origin.
                                                                                                    tients were waiting for a life-saving
                                                                                                    donor organ. The surgical techniques        The possibilities of xenotransplanta-
                                                                                                    and all procedures to avoid rejection       tion are currently controversial, pri-
                                                                                                    reactions were mostly developed in          marily because of ethical considera-
                                                                                                    animal experiments after years of re-       tions and the potential risk of immune
                                                                                                    search. Of great importance for organ       rejections. For the future it is hoped
                                                                                                    transplantation are new findings on         that genetically modified animals can
                                                                                                    immunosuppression, i.e. methods for         be bred whose immune system is even
                                                                                                    suppressing immune reactions against        more similar to the human one, there-
                                                                                                    donated organs to minimise complica-        by reducing the potential for rejection
                                                                                                    tions in organ recipients.                  of the transplanted organ. Current re-
                                                                                                                                                search in this area is at a very early
                                                                                                    New ways of replacing organs are            stage. An obvious way this technique
                                                                                                    being studied because the num-              could be used is already on the hori-
                                                                                                    ber of donor organs is not sufficient.      zon: in clinical emergencies where no
                                                                                                    Xenotransplantation (from the Greek         suitable human donor organ is imme-
                                                                                                    xenos = foreign), i.e. the transplanta-     diately available.
                                                                                                    tion of organs from one animal spe-
                                                                                                    cies to another, or from an animal to
                                                                                                    a human, occupies a special position        Cell and tissue replacement
                                                                                                    in transplantation research. It could       in humans
                                                                                                    alleviate the shortage of donor organs.
                                                                                                    The research aims to identify species       Many of the diseases known today are
                                                                                                    whose organs are suitable for trans-        due to the loss of cells or tissue, or loss
                                                                                                    plantation due to shared biomedical         of their function. Neuro-degenerative
                                                                                                    or physiological properties. For ana-       diseases, such as Parkinson’s or Alz-
                                                                                                    tomical and physiological reasons, the      heimer’s disease, as well as arthrosis
                                                                                                    domestic pig is currently regarded as       and myocardial infarction, entail the
                                                                                                    the most promising organ donor for          loss of cells and tissue, with major
                                                                                                    humans. Animal experimentation is           consequences for the patient’s quality
                                                                                                    therefore an important interface to         of life. Drug treatment, surgical cor-
                                                                                                    livestock research. While the trans-        rection and implantation of skin or
                                                                                                    plantation of whole animal organs has       nerve cells, or of heart valves, artificial
Thomas Morgan                                          George Whipple, George Minot, William Murphy            Hans Spemann                                Henry Dale, Otto Loewi
26    1933   The role of chromosomes
                                                             1934   Discovery of liver therapy
                                                                                                                     1935   The “organiser effect”
                                                                                                                                                                 1936   Discovery of neurotransmitters
                                                                                                                                                                                                            27
             in heredity                                            and pernicious anaemia                                  in embryonic development

      hearts, heart pacemakers or artificial              Stem cells have already been success-                    Stem cell research                           rounders and have the ability to de-
      joints, are all procedures that were de-            fully used in bone marrow transplan-                                                                  velop into any type of cell. They are
      veloped with the help of animal ex-                 tations. This approach offers the possi-                 The aim of stem cell research is to de-      referred to as “pluripotent”, meaning
      perimentation. Artificial cultivation of            bility of allowing some types of tissue                  cipher the principles of cell differen-      that any organ or tissue of a mam-
      replacement tissue from the patient’s               to regrow. Moreover, in the so-called                    tiation and to discover the possibilities    mal can be developed from this type
      own body, known as “tissue engineer-               “biohybrid implants”, the body’s own                      of how to control it. Stem cells are         of cell. In adult organs such as bone
      ing”, might be used in the future to                cell structures and functions are com-                   cells which are still largely capable of     marrow, skin, or central nervous sys-
      replace damaged cells or organs with                bined with electronic or mechanical                      dividing and developing and have the         tem, adult stem cells can repair the
     “material” from the patient’s own body.              implants.                                                ability to develop into specialised cells,   damage in the organism. These are
                                                                                                                   tissues and organs.                          referred to as “multipotent” as they
                                                                                                                                                                only produce cells from an individual
     Stem cells have great potential in medicine as they provide fresh cell material that can be used to           There are different types of stem cells.     organ or tissue. Foetal stem cells are
     remedy diseases that have been difficult or impossible to treat up to now.                                    Embryonic stem cells are cellular all-       a mixture of embryonic and adult
Corneille Heymans                                Gerhard Domagk
28    1938   Regulation of breathing
                                                       1939   Discovery of the antibacterial
                                                                                                                                                                                                        29
                                                              effect of prontosil

     stem cells that are no longer fully        for transplantation. Progress in this          eases, as the mouse genome and the                  fied animals are produced, there
     adaptable, but grow faster and better      area would greatly decrease the risk of        human genome exhibit major similar-                 must be an ethical evaluation and
     instead. In 2012, the stem cell stud-      intolerance and rejection reactions.           ities. Both the human and the mouse                 consideration of the stress for the
     ies performed by the Japanese Shinya                                                      genome have now been fully decoded.                 parent animals and subsequent
     Yamanaka and British John Gurdon                                                          Today, a variety of genetically modi-               generations. This is irrespective of
     were awarded the Nobel Prize. They         Genome research                                fied mouse strains exist that can be                whether the animals are produced
     discovered how mature, differentiated                                                     used as model systems for studying                  by technical manipulation or solely
     cells can be reprogrammed into stem        Genome research investigates the ge-           human diseases.                                     by breeding a new line. Operations,
     cells, which in turn can produce vari-      netic make-up of living organisms.                                                                such as the transfer of egg cells to
     ous types of tissue. Their insights into    This involves not only the genetic code       The German Animal Welfare Act de-                   surrogate mothers or cutting the
     induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS        – the sequence of nucleic-acid building        mands that, before genetically modi-                spermatic ducts in male animals, are
     cells) were based on experiments with       blocks in DNA – but, more important-
     mice.                                       ly, the function of the genes, as these       The Californian lumpfish (Aplysia californica) is an important test model in the field of neurology
                                                 hold the key to the arrangement and           due to its exceptionally large neurons and manageable nervous system. The Nobel Prize winner Eric
     Animal experiments in stem cell re-         structure of the body and to the inter-       Kandel used its synapses to study learning at cellular level, among other things.
     search pave the way for new therapeu-       actions between different organs. To
     tic approaches to currently incurable       be able to analyse these interactions
     diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzhei-       in a complex organism, it is neces-
     mer’s and diabetes. In cancer therapy,      sary to induce specific changes in the
     insights into the differentiation pro-      genetic material, i.e. the genome, by
     cesses in cells have contributed to the     means of animal experiments. Effects
     understanding of the mechanisms             on the “phenotype” of an animal – its
     involved in the creation and division       appearance, behaviour, organ func-
     of cancerous cells. The medical appli-      tion or blood count – enable conclu-
     cation of cell and tissue replacement       sions about the genetic basis for these
     by stem cells has already been tested       changes.
     on animals. Adult stem cells from
     the pancreas, liver and bone marrow        Genome research uses both geneti-
     could be successfully reprogrammed         cally modified animals (transgenic
     into insulin-producing cells and were      animals) as well as animals exhibit-
     able to alleviate type 1 diabetes symp-    ing spontaneous changes to the ge-
     toms in mice. The transplantation of       nome (mutations) that are the result
     muscle stem cells in mice not only         of natural changes or produced by
     led to the repair of damaged tissue in     breeding. Genetic modification of flies,
     mice but also stimulated new muscle        round worms, zebrafish, mice, rats
     growth. One long-term objective is to      and even large animals such as pigs is
     use human stem cells to culture com-       now possible. The mouse is especially
     plex cell structures or complete organs    important in research on human dis-
Henrik Dam, Edward Doisy
30                                                                                                                                    1943                                                           31
                                                                                                                                             Discovery of vitamin K

     performed under anaesthesia with                   from slight to severe. Embryonic                 different – if at all – from that of the           son were awarded the Nobel Prize in
     subsequent pain management and                     development can be so severely dis-              wild type. Evidently the functional                Medicine for their discoveries regard-
     are associated with medium levels                  turbed that the embryos or foetuses              impairment of a gene is compensat-                 ing signal transduction in the nervous
     of stress in the individual animals.               die before birth. However, experi-               ed by other genetic, biochemical or                system of mice, rats, rabbits, guinea
     The degree of stress in the offspring              ence has shown that the appearance               physiological processes, so that devi­             pigs and marine gastropods. In 2013,
     is often not predictable and can vary              of transgenic animals is often hardly            ations can only be detected upon                   James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schek-
                                                                                                         more detailed analysis.                            man and Thomas C. Südhof were
     Complex scientific questions such as brain processes can only be studied on the intact and living
                                                                                                                                                            awarded the Nobel Prize for their
     organism.                                                                                           Recently, genome research with pigs                discoveries of the transport processes
                                                                                                         is also gaining in importance. It is               within a nerve cell and their signifi-
                                                                                                         now possible to specifically modify                cance for the transmission of signals
                                                                                                         the genome of an individual oocyte                 between nerve cells. They employed
                                                                                                         and consequently breed animals that                rats, hamsters and genetically modi-
                                                                                                         can be used for studies on the genetic             fied mice in their research. In 2014,
                                                                                                         principles of diseases, for example in             John O’Keefe and the married cou-
                                                                                                         research on degenerative muscular                  ple Moser were awarded the Nobel
                                                                                                         disorders. Another objective is to al-             Prize in Medicine and Physiology for
                                                                                                         ter the immune system of pigs so that              their research on spatial orientation
                                                                                                         they can produce replacement organs                in mammals. They were able to iden-
                                                                                                         for human use.                                     tify specialised brain cells, the so-
                                                                                                                                                            called place and grid cells, responsi-
                                                                                                                                                            ble for spatial orientation, and could
                                                                                                         Neuroscience                                       verify their interaction. The network
                                                                                                                                                            of grid cells and their spatial organi-
                                                                                                         Neuroscience investigates the struc-               sation is similar to a 3D coordinate
                                                                                                         ture and function of the peripheral                system, and enables orientation and
                                                                                                         and central nervous system. Their                  navigation in time and space. These
                                                                                                         principal focus is the question how                studies were performed using rats.
                                                                                                         nerve cells communicate with each                  Further studies confirm that compa-
                                                                                                         other and how they are connected, in               rable structures of the biological ori-
                                                                                                         order to gain a better understanding               entation system exist in other species,
                                                                                                         of the highly complex processing of                such as mice, bats and primates, and
                                                                                                         sensory information, the control and               also in humans.
                                                                                                         coordination of behaviour, and the
                                                                                                         processes of thinking and feeling.                 Currently, studies on the function-
                                                                                                                                                            ing of the nervous system and the
                                                                                                         In 2000, the researchers Eric Kan-                 brain are being intensively pursued.
                                                                                                         del, Paul Greengard and Arvid Carls-               The US is investing in large-scale re-
Joseph Erlanger, Herbert Gasser                     Alexander Fleming, Ernst Chain, Howard Florey          Hermann Muller                                      Gerty Cori, Carl Cori, Bernardo Houssay
32    1944   Research on the differential functions
                                                          1945   Discovery of penicillin
                                                                                                                 1946   Discovery of the mutagenic
                                                                                                                                                                     1947   Research on carbohydrate
                                                                                                                                                                                                                         33
             of individual nerve fibres                                                                                 effects of X-rays                                   metabolism

                                                                                                                 Hygiene is of utmost importance when dealing with animals. Animal keepers and scientists must
                                                                                                                 wear protective clothing when entering animal spaces to prevent the potential risk of infection to
                                                                                                                 the animals.

     search projects such as the Brain Ac-            disease and its concomitant move-
     tivity Map Project (BRAIN initiative)            ment disorders.
     while Europe is spending billions on
     brain research with the Human Brain              Knowledge gained from animal ex-
     Project. Only greater insight into the           periments is also used in the devel-
     basic functions of nerve cells will en-          opment of prosthetic devices and the
     able researchers to understand what              treatment of paralysis. For example,
     causes diseases of the nervous sys-              using electrical stimulation of the
     tem and to develop treatment meth-               spinal nerves, non-human primates
     ods for stroke, Alzheimer’s and Par-             suffering from paralysis of their limbs
     kinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis,            due to spinal cord injury were able
     epilepsy, depression, schizophrenia,             again to move their hand and grasp
     anxiety dis­orders and paraplegia.               objects. Nerve conduction could be
                                                      partially restored in paraplegic rats
     A substantial number of therapeutic              by transplanting embryonic stem
     approaches are based on knowledge                cells into their spinal cord. However,
     gained from animal experiments.                  the molecular and cellular processes
     For example, stem cell transplanta-              involved are not yet understood well
     tions into the brain of mice, which              enough to be applied to humans. In
     were previously genetically modified             the same vein, there are promising
     or subjected to chemical substances              initial approaches to using stem cell
     producing pathologies similar to hu-             therapy for the transplantation of
     man diseases such as Parkinson’s                 specific stem cells into affected areas
     disease, multiple sclerosis or stroke,           of the brain.
     led to improvements in the general
     condition and the disappearance of
     typical symptoms. Chip-based retina              Veterinary research
     implants providing basal vision to
     the blind, or cochlear implants for              The findings from animal experiments
     the deaf, are based on scientific ex-            are of use not only in human medi-
     periments with chickens, rabbits, cats,          cine, but also in the development of                       of cancer, diabetes, ulcers and blood              Tumour therapy in small animals is
     pigs and non-human primates. Deep                new diagnostic and therapeutic proce-                      disorders. Dogs with a naturally oc-               another example.
     brain stimulation combines neu-                  dures in veterinary medicine. Certain                      curring blood clotting disorder, lead-
     rosurgical and electrophysiological              diseases occur both in animals as well                     ing to profuse and life-threatening                A transfer of treatment methods is
     approaches, which were mainly de-                as humans. Among these are arterio-                        internal bleeding, can be treated for              generally possible without difficulties,
     veloped on the basis of non-human                sclerosis and congenital deformities of                    haemophilia A on the basis of a gene               as the methods practised in human
     primate models. It is now used suc-              the spine in rabbits, diseases of the vis-                 therapy developed for humans, which                medicine were developed in animal
     cessfully in patients with Parkinson’s           ual system in cats, and specific forms                     stops their bleeding in the long term.             experiments. However, veterinary
Paul Müller                                              Walter Hess, Antonio Moniz                                     Edward Kendall, Tadeus Reichstein, Philip Hench                Max Theiler
34    1948   Discovery of the
                                                              1949    Research on the functional organisation
                                                                                                                              1950   Structure and function of adrenal hormones
                                                                                                                                                                                             1951   Vaccine against yellow fever
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      35
             insecticide DDT                                          of the brain in the surgical treatment of psychosis

     medicine likewise cannot dispense                    studies are usually designed such that                            Vaccination strategies for fatal dis-                      which are difficult to teach in the
     with the use of experimental animals                 the target species, i.e. the potential                            eases such as leukosis, distemper and                      context of clinical routine, enable
     in basic research and in the develop-                patient, is the subject of the investi-                           bovine tuberculosis were successfully                      physicians to expand their skills for
     ment of new treatment methods. The                   gation.                                                           developed on this basis. Vaccines and                      surgical procedures on humans and
                                                                                                                            veterinary medicines help to reduce                        to learn new techniques. The Ger-
     Veterinary medicine was able to develop vaccination strategies against fatal diseases such as dis-                     livestock losses as a result of diseas-                    man Animal Welfare Act treats the
     temper and leukosis by using test animals.                                                                             es. Additionally, these medicines are                      handling of experimental animals
                                                                                                                            used in nature preservation projects                       as part of a training programme in
                                                                                                                            for the protection of endangered spe-                      the same way as animal experimen-
                                                                                                                            cies and especially to prevent the                         tation, i.e. as subject to application
                                                                                                                            spread of diseases.                                        and approval.

                                                                                                                            Animal experiments in edu-                                 The basic assumption of
                                                                                                                            cation, training and profes-                               transferability
                                                                                                                            sional development
                                                                                                                                                                                       The components of body cells and
                                                                                                                            Proper handling of experimental                            the biochemical mechanisms neces-
                                                                                                                            animals by researchers and animal                          sary for the processes of life are very
                                                                                                                            keepers needs to be learned. This                          similar across different animal spe-
                                                                                                                            includes the routine tasks of animal                       cies. Molecular genetics can dem-
                                                                                                                            keeping as well as blood sampling,                         onstrate that all organisms living
                                                                                                                            injections and surgical procedures.                        today have the same origin. They
                                                                                                                            Careful and comprehensive train-                           share genes which are responsible
                                                                                                                            ing of personnel should ensure that                        for body structure and which are
                                                                                                                            any suffering in animals is reduced                        modified during the course of evo-
                                                                                                                            to a minimum. This is also necessary                       lution, thus providing the material
                                                                                                                            from a scientific point of view. In or-                    basis for the sequence of living crea-
                                                                                                                            der to obtain reliable and reproduci-                      tures throughout the geological eras.
                                                                                                                            ble results, stress and pain symptoms                      These similarities even allow com-
                                                                                                                            must be minimised as much as pos-                          parisons of human genes and meta-
                                                                                                                            sible.                                                     bolic processes with those of bacteria,
                                                                                                                                                                                       fungi and yeasts.
                                                                                                                            In human medicine, especially in
                                                                                                                            the fields of surgery and anaesthesia,                     However, body functions are much
                                                                                                                            practical training with large animals                      more complex in higher animals and
                                                                                                                            is an important element of educa-                          man than in the lower organisms,
                                                                                                                            tion. Such practical training units,                       as body functions in higher animals
Selman Waksman                                      Hans Krebs, Fritz Lipmann                                    John Enders, Thomas Weller, Frederick Robbins                              Axel Theorell
36    1952   Discovery of streptomycin
                                                          1953   The citric acid cycle
                                                                                                                       1954   Discovery of growing the poliovirus in cell cultures
                                                                                                                                                                                                  1955   The effect of
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 37
                                                                                                                                                                                                         oxidant enzymes

                                               Examples of animals used in research.

     are based on a multitude of special-                                                                                                                                            are not used in subsequent clinical
     ised cell types and organs. For exam-                                                                                                                                           tests on humans due to undesirable
     ple, an active substance may have                                                                                                                                               side effects and safety risks, and are
     the desired effect in the liver, but be                                                      Mouse, rat                                                                         excluded from the development pro-
     chemically modified by the liver cells                                                  Cancer research
                                                                                                                                                                                     cess. Animal experimentation thus
     in such a way that the resulting com-                                                                        Rabbits                                                            prevents the administration of po-
                                                                                         Metabolic disorders      Development of vaccines
     pound is toxic to the central nervous                                                                                                                                           tentially harmful or life-threatening
     system. This shows that the transfer                                     Efficacy testing of drugs           Efficacy testing of drugs                                          substances to humans.
     of reaction patterns from cell struc-                                                 Genome research
     tures to the total organism can be ex-                                                                                                                                          However, there is no such thing as
     tremely difficult. For this reason, not                                                                                                                                         absolute safety. The Thalidomide ca-
     only studies at the cellular level are                                                                                                                                          tastrophe in the 1960s made this
     needed (using alternative methods,                                                                                                                                              tragically clear. Prior to this event, the
     see page 51ff.), but also always stud-                                                                                                                                          potential of a drug to cause develop-
     ies of the complete organism to check                                                         Dog
                                                                                                                                                                                     mental malformations was not inves-
     both the efficacy and side effects of a                                                                                                                                         tigated. It was only after the scandal,
                                                                    Transplantation surgery
     substance.                                                                                                       Cattle, horse, pig
                                                                                                                                                                                     in 1978, that the German Drug Law
                                                                                         Osteosynthesis                                                                              was tightened and the effect on em-
                                                                              Emergency surgery                       Vaccine development
     Animal experiments make it pos-                                                                                                                                                 bryonic development was added to
                                                                                                                      and isolation
     sible to predict the desired as well                                       Diabetes research                                                                                    the testing catalogue for drug safety
                                                                                                                      Veterinary research
     as about 70% of the adverse effects                             Cardiovascular diseases                                                                                         and efficacy.
     on humans. One example is acetyl-                                  Osteoporosis research
     salicylic acid (the active substance in                                                                                                                                         The basic assumption of transferabil-
                                                                             Veterinary research
     the analgesic Aspirin®). It alleviates                                                                                                                                          ity is also an important aspect in the
     pain in both rats and humans, but                                                                                                                                               evaluation of pain and sensitivity in
     can increase bleeding in both spe-                                                                                                                                              animals. The anatomical structure of
     cies. Other examples are the effects                                                                                                                                            the brain as well as the conduction
     of building materials and of solvents,                                                                                                                                          of pain stimuli and their perception
     which have damaging effects on both                                                                        Cat                                                                  in the central nervous system are
     rats and humans. Asbestos causes                                                                           Heart surgery
                                                                                                                                                                                     similar in higher animals. This per-
     lung cancer in rats and humans, and                                           Non-human primates
                                                                                                                                                                                     mits analogies to be drawn regarding
                                                                                                                Neurophysiological studies
     plastic solvents cause liver cancer in                                                                                                                                          pain sensitivity and possibly even the
                                                                         Basic and applied research             Development of hearing aids
     both. From these experiences it can                                                                                                                                             capacity for suffering. The transfer-
                                                                                   in neurobiology
     be concluded that safety and efficacy                                                                      Research on feline leukaemia                                         ability of results from animal to hu-
                                                                                   Vaccine development
     tests on animals can significantly re-                                                                     Veterinary research                                                  mans thus also applies in the oppo-
     duce the risk of new treatment meth-                                                    SIV/HIV research                                                                        site direction. Drugs that have been
     ods for humans. 36% of substances                                                                                                                                               successfully used to treat humans can
     tested in preclinical animal studies                                                                                                                                            also be used for domestic animals.
André Cournand, Werner Forssmann, Dickinson Richards
                       1956   Development of cardiac catheterisation
                                                                                                      39

Animal experimentation and protection
of animals: Ethical considerations

Development of the concept                               cruelty to animals and “vivisection”
                                                         (operations on living animals). As ex-
of animal protection in                                  perimental research and consequently
Germany                                                  the number of animal experiments
                                                         increased within the same period, this
The idea that humans have a special re-                  inevitably led to conflict between sci-
sponsibility for animals in their care is                ence and animal welfare. Even back
the result of the historical development                 then, people’s reasons for rejecting ani-
of the relationship between animals                      mal experimentation varied depending
and humans. Cultural, philosophical,                     on their scientific, religious or societal
social and official standards define the                 background.
framework for our attitudes towards
animals and their needs. The animal                      The first German Animal Welfare Act
welfare laws and regulations that are                    was passed in the 1930s and remained
in place today are an expression of this                 in force until after the Second World
development, which began in the 17th                     War. For the first time, it laid down
century. Since then, an anthropocen-                     regulations for working with labora-
tric view of animal protection has been                  tory animals. In the 1960s and 1970s,
advocated – with man at the centre.                      public discussion of the safety of farm
                                                         and laboratory animals was revived;
In the 18th and 19th centuries, influ-                   this encouraged the creation of new
ential members of a socially and politi-                 laws on animal protection. The Animal
cally active stratum of the population                   Welfare Act adopted in the Federal Re-
became active. They loathed all forms                    public of Germany in 1972 was based
of cruelty to animals and regarded this                  on ethical concepts of animal protec-
attitude as a sign of their level of edu-                tion, and exploited scientific findings
cation. The focus of interest was not                    on species-specific and behaviourally
the animal, but concerns about the                       correct standards and the needs of the
brutalisation of individuals and of soci-                animals as criteria for evaluation.
ety. In Germany, a variety of laws were
passed at first, and the Law on the Pre-                 Subsequent changes in the law in the
vention of Cruelty to Animals was only                   1980s and 1990s were influenced by
first included in the German Criminal                    economic, scientific and political con-
Code in 1871. This legal harmonisation                   siderations. These changes increased
promoted animal protection as a social                   the emphasis on animals as fellow
goal and led to the formation of nu-                     creatures and strengthened regulation
merous societies for animal protection,                  of animal experiments. To enhance
with the main objective of preventing                    the protection of animals as living
You can also read