We need creativity and education
Valeria Bonapersona is a PhD student at the UMC Utrecht Brain Center. She is a biologist, who is now specialising in statistics of animal experiments. Her view on the transition to animal-free innovations is that we need creativity and education.
‘I did a systematic review of animal research, specifically of how many animals are expected to be required in each study. When an animal study is planned, researchers ask themselves what the minimum number of animals necessary to make conclusions is. One of my findings is that the number of animals is unrealistically low. That hampers firm conclusions. By paradox, to be more ethical, science would require more animals. An alternative solution is to consider studies as related to each other, rather than independent. A researcher can use data from previous animal studies in new experiments. To do that properly, my colleagues and I developed a system called . It is a statistical methodology to plan and analyse animal experiments, which includes a web tool. This research won’t reduce the absolute number of animals, but it can make animal research more valuable.
Advantages and disadvantages of animal-free systems
The transition to animal-free innovations does not affect my daily work. I will just be doing more math. As a scientist I recognize that there are still many questions for which animal-free research is not possible. For example, let’s consider stress – something we are all very familiar with. We can study in an animal-free way what stress does to cells, but not what stress does to a whole organism. Scientists can say tell the advantages and disadvantages of animal-with and animal-free research for each specific question, but ultimately the choice to transition to animal-free research is of society as a whole. If we want to stick with the current bio-medical system, there is a limit to the animal-free transition. If we want to completely transition, then the system will have to change. I believe that the problem boils down to where we put our values. Scientists can provide all required information to make the best choice.
Helpathons
Interdisciplinary creative sessions, such as helpathons, can be very helpful to find solutions. The difficulty could be the communication. I myself have experienced that is really difficult to communicate between disciplines on the same level. A large part of my work has been to translate what one professor says, to the other professor. That would be an important role in the helpathons, to rephrase and make people understand each other.
Room for improvement
I think in Utrecht the system is amazing, with the Animal Welfare Body thinking along critically, et cetera. In the UK, the NC3Rs are also doing a wonderful job. You can find lots of information on their website. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement. To be able to imagine a future without animal experiments, we need creativity and education. We should make researchers understand that there is a problem, and entice them to open up to solutions. Apart from that, grants for innovations are very important, as setting up a research line is normally expensive. All these elements can be helpful, but we should accept that the process is going to take a lot of time.’