Support for animal experiment research and reinforcement of the 3R principles
To promote the development and implementation of new methods for refining, reducing or even replacing animal experiments (known as the 3Rs), ETH Zurich’s Vice President for Research launched the 3R Hub. He has also expanded the university’s Animal Welfare and 3R office. In this way, ETH is affirming its position that animal experiments are necessary in many areas of basic research.
Animal experiments rank among the most socially controversial aspects of research. This explains why research that involves experimenting on animals is highly regulated. In Switzerland, all animal experiments must first be approved by the canton’s veterinary office. Moreover, the workload and effort of housing and handling laboratory animals and experimenting on them has been steadily rising over the past few years.
ETH Zurich has some 50 research groups in around 15 different disciplines whose methods of scientific enquiry are dependent on utilising or observing animals. One aspect of their work concerns very fundamental relationships associated with the brain, immune system or metabolism. Another is applied research such as fish guide racks at hydropower stations. Isolated cells or organelles alone are not enough to answer scientific questions in these areas – the organism must be studied in its entirety. This is why researchers are dependent on animal experiments.
Complete phase-out is not an option
With this situation in mind, in autumn 2023 the ETH Executive Board reviewed its position and discussed a variety of potential strategies for dealing with animal experiments. The Executive Board affirmed that research involving animal experiments is an integral part of ETH research strategy and that animal experiments are indispensable to the methodology followed in many research areas at ETH Zurich, namely biology and life sciences.
“Whether in very fundamental scientific enquiry or applied research, completely replacing animal experiments with other methods is currently not possible. The ETH Executive Board has ruled out abandoning animal experiments or phasing out research that uses them because this would mean shutting down entire fields of highly innovative research,” says Christian Wolfrum, Vice President for Research. “The ETH researchers who carry out animal experiments are fully aware of their responsibilities with regard to respectful handling of animals and their welfare. The Executive Board stands by ETH’s researchers and is committed to giving them its support.”
Focus on minimally invasive animal experiments
“We take the concerns and reservations of policymakers and the public seriously,” Wolfrum says, “so we want to be open about why animal experiments are necessary in certain fields of scientific enquiry. At the same time, we’re working even harder to promote the development and implementation of new methods for refining and reducing animal experiments and, wherever possible, replacing them. But it’s also important to note that we will not be in a position to replace animal experiments entirely in the foreseeable future.”
The 3R principles of Replace, Reduce and Refine are concerned with establishing new methods to replace animal experiments, entirely or in part, to reduce the number of animals used in experiments, and to refine the way animals are handled to minimise the stress they experience. ETH researchers already apply the 3R principles in their work. As a result, the number of animals used in experiments at ETH Zurich has not increased since 2015: it is now around 30,000 per year (the Office of Research publishes exact figures on animal experiments).
To provide researchers with more 3R knowledge and support, Wolfrum decided to implement two measures. The first was the launch of the 3R Hub at the end of March [article “ETH Zurich launches 3R Hub to establish methods that improve animal experiments”]. The second was to expand the structure of the Animal Welfare group and rename it the Animal Welfare and 3R office.
The 3R Hub is attached to Professor Johannes Bohacek’s Molecular and Behavioural Neuroscience research group and led by an experienced 3R researcher, Oliver Sturman. This hub examines and strives to modernise indispensable animal experiments to minimise animal suffering and reduce the number of animals used. While researchers at the 3R Hub are developing and disseminating their own 3R methods, the Animal Welfare and 3R office shares its 3R expertise in legal requirements and complex approval applications for animal experiments.
Animal Welfare and 3R: Consultation and controls
The 3R principles play a key role in the approvals process for animal experiments. Responsibility here lies with the Animal Welfare and 3R office: “We support ETH researchers in all matters related to animal experiments or housing and handling animals,” says Samia Bachmann, Function Lead of Animal Welfare and 3R. These include, for instance, better ways of housing and handling mice, gentler ways of transporting fish and clarification of whether a given project will involve animal experiments and is therefore subject to approval.
The Animal Welfare and 3R office liaises with cantonal and federal authorities and supports the Executive Board. Its main duties are consulting and internal quality assurance. Part of its consulting remit is to provide researchers with tailored training as well as assistance when filling out the complex applications for animal experiment approval. The university’s Animal Welfare Officers review all applications to ensure they are complete, and they provide feedback about the 3R principles. In addition, they advise on the ethical assessment that weighs the predicted benefits of the results against the burden placed on the animals. The authority to approve applications rests with the canton’s veterinary office and its animal experimentation commission.
For the past five years, the Animal Welfare and 3R office’s second main duty has been internal quality assurance. As an internal supervisory function, the Animal Welfare Officers carry out unscheduled inspections of how animals are housed and handled as well as of ongoing animal experiments at ETH Zurich. They examine the documentation as well as the behaviour and health of the animals. Should they identify any deficiencies, they work with the relevant researchers and staff in charge of housing and handling the animals to find solutions.
Working in the Animal Welfare and 3R office are three Animal Welfare Officers – Samia Bachmann, Jasmin Frey and Stefanie Hiltbrunner – and one IT Assistant, Mayamy Scheuber. Frey and Hiltbrunner each have a doctorate in biology and started in their current roles on 1 January 2024. Bachmann has led the team since January 2024. She holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine and has been an ETH Zurich Animal Welfare Officer since 2019. All three have a great deal of experience with animal experiments in a research context. Scheuber supports researchers in matters of reporting and the corresponding online system.
“ETH relies on a dual system of personal responsibility and controls. The researchers are fully aware that the animals’ well-being influences data quality,” Bachmann says. ETH’s approach aims to strictly align the university’s infrastructure for housing and handling animals and using them for research purposes to the 3R principles. EPIC is ETH Zurich’s central platform for ensuring that a uniform standard for housing and handling animals is met. The following video takes a look at how animals are housed and handled at ETH.
The video is an example of ETH’s desire to talk about animal experiments in a more transparent way. This increased transparency is in step with the goal of the Swiss Transparency Agreement on Animal Research (external page STAAR), of which ETH Zurich is a signatory.
Conference and panel discussion on animal experiments
On 8 April 2024, ETH Vice President Christian Wolfrum will chair a panel discussion on animal experiments. This discussion is part of a conference entitled “Animal experiments in research: Challenges and opportunities. Weighing of interests and the ‘indispensable need’ – From a legal, biomedical, regulatory and clinical perspective”. The conference is organised by ETH Zurich, the Swiss 3R Competence Centre (3RCC) and Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW). Admission is free and registration is required.
8 April 2024, ETH Main Building, lecture hall E3
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