Currently, an estimated 100 million animals are used in research each year. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the development of the key model for protection of animals in research, often referred to as the "3 Rs". These standards, first published in the book The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique by William Russell and Rex Burch, ask researchers to reduce the number of animals used, refine or limit pain and distress to which animals will be exposed, and replace the use of animals with non-animal alternatives when possible or use a species considered less capable of pain and distress. The past five decades have been marked by tremendous progress in scientific understanding of animals' cognitive functions, as well as in technologies that replace animals in research. Difficult questions have been raised about the adequacy of relevant ethical and welfare guidelines, the effectiveness of some animal models in predicting human outcomes, and the availability of non-animal research methods. Accordingly, the Georgetown University Kennedy Institute of Ethics, the Johns Hopkins University Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, the Institute for In Vitro Sciences, The George Washington University, and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine will jointly sponsor a two day multi-disciplinary conference to advance the study of the ethical and scientific issues surrounding the use of animals in research. Speakers and participants will examine the adequacy of current protections and the promise and challenges of developing effective alternatives to the use of animals. The conference will bring together a diverse group of established and early-career scientists, researchers, medical professionals, academic and applied ethicists, and students.
Globally, approximately 100 million animals are used in research each year. Increasingly, questions have been raised about the adequacy of relevant ethical and welfare guidelines, as well as the effectiveness of animal testing and research in predicting human risk and outcomes. Scientific advancements regarding the cognitive and emotional capabilities of animals and an increased understanding of the benefits, limits, and risks of animal research are of tremendous interest to the scientific community as well as the lay public, and are often contentious, but are rarely studied in an organized forum. One of the most influential attempts to examine and affect animal use can be traced back to 1959, with the publication of The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique, by William Russell and Rex Burch. Russell and Burch published this seminal book in response to marked growth in medical and veterinary research and the concomitant increase in the numbers of animals used. The text emphasized reduction, refinement, and replacement of animal use, principles which have since been referred to as the "3 Rs." These principles encouraged researchers to work to reduce the number of animals used in experiments to the minimum considered necessary, refine or limit the pain and distress to which animals are exposed, and replace the use of animals with non-animal alternatives when possible. While the "3 Rs" capture crucially important ethical notions, they do not adequately reflect the substantial developments in our new knowledge about the cognitive and emotional capabilities of animals; an updated understanding of the harms associated with animal research; and the changing cultural perspectives about the place of animals in society. Therefore, the Georgetown University Kennedy Institute of Ethics, the Johns Hopkins University Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, the Institute for In Vitro Sciences, The George Washington University, and the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine jointly held a two day multi-disciplinary conference, "Animals, Research, and Alternatives," on August 26-27, 2010 in Washington, D.C., to address these critically important issues. Conference participants stemmed from various fields including, but not limited to, basic and applied research, toxicology, ethics, and human and veterinary medicine. Unlike other conferences in these areas, the "Animals, Research, and Alternatives" symposium assumed a broad and comprehensive approach. This two-day symposium aimed to advance the study of the ethical and scientific issues surrounding the use of animals in research, with particular emphasis on the adequacy of current protections and the promise and challenges of developing alternatives to the use of animals. Conference themes and corresponding objectives included an evidence-based overview of emotional and cognitive capacities of animals, the scientific merit of selected areas of research, and the current state of progress with respect to alternatives to animal research. The conference program allowed for a question-and-answer period after each presentation, and the audience's participation fostered insightful dialogue. A conference website was created, www.researchalternatives.org, featuring a program overview, the full conference agenda, the list of speakers, and access to speaker presentations. It is anticipated that proceedings from the conference will be published in PLoS ONE, an open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal. In addition, high-quality videos of conference presentations were recorded. The conference organizers are developing a media player that will display speakers and their PowerPoint presentations. These videos will be uploaded to the conference website and made available to conference attendees and the public in 2011. Funding for the conference was provided by the National Science Foundation and the Arcus Foundation.
