Animal welfare & alternatives

• 

  Artificial lung an alternative test-bed?

  A functional artificial lung on a chip, which mimics the behavour of mouse lungs, has been created.

• 

  Canine cancer consortium

  Two organisations have joined together to further research into canine cancer.

• 

  Dogs knees hold sporting injury clue

  Canine genetics may be able to explain why both humans and dogs develop ligament injuries.

• 

  Artificial skin graft success

  Artificial human skin developed in the laboratory has been successfully grafted onto mice.

• 

  3Rs in front of the camera

  If there is one thing that anti-vivisection campaigns are good at, it's providing vivid imagery.

• 

  Bad design or bad reporting?

  Critiques of animal research usually focus on issues such as the need for the study, the number of animals used, and how they are treated.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get the latest articles and news from Understanding Animal Research in your email inbox every month.
• 

  Biomatrix may allow tumour testing without mice

  Mice are used widely in the study of cancer and to test the clinical efficiency and safety of anti-cancer therapies.

• Towards replacing rabbit eye tests

  Two new 'non-animal methods', have now been approved by OECD for testing the irritancy of some substances to the eye.

• 

  EU tries to avoid using 54 million more animals

  A recent study suggests that the chemical industry will have to spend €9.5 billion (US$13.6 billion) on safety testing over the next decade.

• 

  Snails, slime moulds and flies

  Government funding for alternatives research, through NC3Rs, has nearly doubled this year compared with 2008.

• 

  40,000 trout undercut costs, increase accuracy

  The largest animal study ever on the cancer-causing risk (carcinogenicity) of chemicals could have profound implications for the species used in such testing, the numbers of animals used, and the accuracy of current tests.

• Recommended reading

  The National Centre for the Three Rs has produced a handy 'beginners guide' to the 3Rs - Refinement, Reduction and Replacement - and how they can benefit science, innovation and animal welfare.

• A tale of three species

  The law of unintended consequences may have led to saving rabbits at the expense of a two incredible species: a prehistoric invertebrate and a small bird with one of the most impressive known migrations.

• 

  And the prize goes to...

  National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) awards