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Newsletter no. 6-2024 from Norecopa
Welcome to Norecopa's sixth newsletter of 2024.
This is the
124th Newsletter published by Norecopa since 2008.
We hope you find them of use! We
welcome feedback, positive or negative.
Please share this newsletter with your colleagues and friends, and encourage them
to subscribe!
We are also on
LinkedIn and (to a lesser extent) on
Facebook and
X.
This newsletter contains the following items (if some links do not work, check that your mail program has opened the whole of the newsletter):
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The production of Non-Technical Summaries (NTS) are a central part of the process of conducting animal research
within the EU and
the UK. These summaries enhance transparency and help to ensure that the public is objectively informed about the use of animals for scientific purposes.
Norecopa has analysed the
NTS for project licences granted in the UK in 2024, a total of 283 projects from January to September. Of these, 153 (54%) state that they have used Norecopa's resources, primarily the
PREPARE guidelines, to plan the study.
Norecopa has also studied the 2024
Annual Report of the UK
Concordat on Openness, a network of research institutions that are committed to public transparency about their work. The Network has 129 members, of which 122 were surveyed for the Report. 43 institutions (35%) stated that they use
PREPARE to underpin the
ARRIVE reporting guidelines - which is in keeping with
Norecopa's view on these two sets of guidance, and the conclusions of
a 2021 symposium on open science and animal experiments.
On 16 September, the NC3Rs arranged a series of webinars on the theme
"Staying informed on advances in the 3Rs and animal research". At the beginning of the session, the participants were asked to state where they looked for 3Rs resources. This was used to construct a word cloud (illustration). Here again, it was gratifying to see that Norecopa featured prominently among the 84 responses.
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It is not too early to submit nominations for next year's
3R Prize. Self-nominations are allowed.
The aim of the prize is to increase awareness and use of
the 3R principle in research. Special emphasis is placed on advances in research and development which benefit Norwegian conditions. The prize can be awarded for scientific, technical or administrative work, either by an individual or a group.
More details, including the nomination form, statutes and an overview of previous winners
are available here.
The photo shows
this year's prizewinner,
Aurora Brønstad from the University of Bergen. This was the 13th time that Norecopa awarded the prize, which consists of NOK 30,000 in cash and a diploma.
This means that researchers in Bergen have won the Prize for two consecutive years. We look forward to nominations from other cities as well!
The deadline for nominations is
15 March 2025.
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The first ever
World Meeting for Laboratory Animal Veterinarians will be held on 1 June in Athens, the day before the
FELASA congress (2-5 June) starts.
The Swedish 3Rs Center has made a useful
list of Swedish research bodies with grants related to the 3Rs and links to statements about the 3Rs by these bodies. There are also some links to international funders on that page.
The Head of the Research Animals Department at the RSPCA, Penny Hawkins, has recently presented about
"Emotional labour: support for animal technologists". This presentation also includes valuable insight into Culture of Care, compassion fatigue and the tasks of a UK animal welfare and ethical review body (AWERB). The RSPCA has a wide range of
resources for members of AWERBs, especially for those new to such work. These resources are highly recommended for use in other countries as well.
The Charité 3R centre in Berlin has published an excellent report on the state of the art of
3R Centres' contributions to changes in animal experimentation, describing the various ways in which centres implement their own policies or created dedicated structures to support scientists.
The Swedish 3R-Center have published
support material for the acclimatisation of zebrafish prior to experiments (also available
in Swedish). This and other resources can be found in Norecopa's
collection of zebrafish information. The Center has produced similar information on
single and group housing of rabbits (in
Swedish).
The Netherlands are planning to build a national
Centre for Animal-Free Biomedical Translation (CPBT in Dutch), in Utrecht. The Centre has a budget of 245 million euros from 2025 to 2034. The CPBT will serve as a one-stop shop for organisations interested in adopting animal-free biomedical translation or for those looking to conduct preclinical research in the most efficient way.
The
AFSTAL Working Group on sustainability is soliciting experiences in reducing the environmental impact of animal facilities. Please fill in their questionnaire (in English or
in French) by
20 December. The aim of the study is to develop an open database to support the endeavours of other facilities.
Members of the COST IMPROVE project, in which Norecopa participates, have written a paper entitled
Towards a common interpretation of the 3Rs principles in preclinical research.
The organisation FRAME (Foundation for Replacements for Animals in Medical Experiments) has recently changed its name to
Replacing Animal Research, to illustrate its commitment to all areas of animal use.
A new organisation, the
Asian Federation of Societies for Alternatives to Animal Experiments (AFAAE) has been founded, to foster scientific co-operation among Asian countries in the region. AFAAE will support Asian Congresses of Alternatives to Animal Experiments and will publish a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The
4th Asian Congress will be arranged in Dehli on 12-14 December.
BRISA (Brazilian
Reproducibility
Initiative in preclinical
Systematic review and meta-Analysis) has been established, to foster the use of these techniques in basic research. The initiative emerged from the
Brazilian Reproducibility Initiative and currently consists of a network of more than 30 researchers across the country. They conduct training and coordinate the development of preclinical systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
A new journal, focusing on New Approach Methodologies, has been launched.
NAM Journal aims to serve as a hub for dissemination and worldwide exchange of information regarding state-of-the-art NAM developments. The Journal welcomes original research papers, review papers, opinion papers and meeting reports dealing with NAM production and their use in human toxicology, ecotoxicology, chemical risk assessment and biomedical research, amongst other fields. While the main focus is on Replacement of
animal experimentation, manuscripts that support Reduction and Refinement, will also be considered.
The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) has updated its
risk assessment report on marking of wild birds. The report is in Norwegian but is relevant to other countries as well.
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There are now over 1,700 books in Norecopa's TextBase database which is embedded in the website (here
sorted by date of entry, newest first). Many of the most recently added ones are about ethics and traditions within animal experimentation, but we have also added a number of practical handbooks for scientists.
One of these discusses
Practical Management of Research Animal care and Management, emphasising the teamwork needed to ensure quality science with optimal animal and personnel welfare. This book addresses both animal program managers, veterinarians, researchers and technicians.
This book and nearly 900 others in the database are available as eBooks. These eBooks can be identified
by using the search filters in the right margin when performing searches (click here).
Other more recently added textbooks include a new edition of
The Laboratory Zebrafish,
Career Options in the Life Sciences, the third edition of
The Laboratory Mouse,
Animal Cognition,
Wildlife Ethics and the 6th edition of
Management and Welfare of Farm Animals, to name a few.
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The
Nordic Zebrafish Network (NZN), founded last year by Karolinska Institutet, Nord University and Norecopa, held its second successful
husbandry course and scientific meeting in November. The
theme of this year's meeting was “From husbandry to animal experiments: Creating reliable research".
We thank all the sponsors who have made this possible!
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The NIH has updated its webpage on
Why Properly Designed Experiments Are Critical for Animal Research, and Advancing Public Health. They have recruited a group of independent experts to provide recommendations, and
their report includes mention of Norecopa's PREPARE guidelines:
Journals and funders are increasingly requiring or encouraging researchers to report critical elements of their study design and analysis in reports and applications, often by using tools such as the ARRIVE and PREPARE guidelines and journal-specific checklists.
This is one of several pages of information on
the use of animals in NIH research.
The
October issue of
Laboratory Animals contained a large set of papers on biostatistics, including discussions of sample size, p-values, blinding, randomisation, correlations, pilot studies and how to deal with heterogeneity.
Inspired by the jetting systems of cephalopods, Graham Arrick and coworkers have designed
a system for gastrointestinal drug delivery which is comparable to subcutaneous injections.
Seung-Beom Kang and colleagues have developed
a system for automated recognition of fish species and body length measurement.
Laura Burgett and colleagues have demonstrated that
the marble burying test, which is used in mice in behavioural studies, gives more reliable information if the behaviour is filmed, rather than just recorded with a photograph.
A
radiology database has been created by a group of zoological institutions, to provide a central online reference tool. This collaborative effort contributed thousands of digital radiographs and CT scans that had been approved by board-certified veterinary radiologists as “normal” for each species. So far, radiographs of around 200 species of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals
have been included in the database.
The Charité Hospital in Berlin has created a facility for
lab mice with a natural microbiome. They are also using
in vitro and
in silico systems to simulate human physiology and pathology, with the aim of developing The Simulated Human (Der Simulierte Mensch).
Jivago Rolo has written a blog on LinkedIn describing
the latest advances in surgical techniques and microsurgery for laboratory animals.
René Bernard and colleagues have
tested the usefulness of a quality system in preclinical research.
Thomas Bertelsen (who initiated the
International Culture of Care Network) and colleagues have written a book chapter on
The Concept of Culture of Care: Internal Program Communication.
Martina Perse has written a paper entitled
Animal Models of Human Pathology: Revision, Relevance and Refinements.
A pre-print is available of a paper by Heather Browning and coworkers on
Assessing the suitability of welfare indicators for wild animals.
The
European Observatory of Wildlife (EOW) works to develop and implement standardized protocols for harmonised data on the distribution and density of target mammal species.
The COST
TEATIME project has built up an impressive
list of resources related to homecage monitoring of rodents.
The
National Preclinical Sepsis Platform in Canada is working
to make preclinical sepsis research more reliable and reproducible.
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Yijun Pan and Shari Cohen have published a depressing summary of
reporting practices of anaesthetic and analgesic use in orthopaedic research.
Chris Magee asks:
Who actually funds non-animal technologies?
Katy Taylor has published an analysis of the
trends in animal use and non-animal methods over the last 20 years.
Richard Kahn and colleagues have written a review on
the quality of antibodies used in preclinical and clinical research. They state that many of these antibodies have not been adequately characterised, which casts doubt on the results reported in many scientific papers. This problem is compounded by a lack of suitable control experiments in many studies. They review the history of the ‘antibody characterisation crisis’, and document efforts to address the problem. They also present
recommendations for a range of stakeholders to increase the reproducibility of studies that rely on antibodies. See also
"The antibodies don't work! The race to rid labs of molecules that ruin experiments".
Margaret Hull and coworkers have looked at
the effects of non-aversive versus tail-lift handling on breeding productivity in C57BL/6J mice. Compared to tail-lift mice, tunnel-handled mice averaged one extra pup per pair born and weaned. More tunnel-handled pairs successfully weaned all litters produced, averaged fewer litter losses prior to weaning, and had a 20% lower risk of recurrent litter loss. The increase in numbers of pups produced and
weaned with tunnel handling met threshold requirement for operational significance. The data also suggest that overlooked husbandry practices such as cage transfer may be major confounders in studies of mouse models.
John Ioannidis, famous for his paper
Why most published research findings are false, delivered the Presidential address at a meeting of the Association of American Physicians (AAP) where (with 55 references) he discussed
transparency, bias and reproducibility in science.
In a letter to the Editor of the Journal of Applied Animal Ethics Research, Fahimeh Mohseni and Raheleh Rafaiee discuss
the ethical challenges of animal models of addiction.
Judith Madden and colleagues offer advice to early career scientists on
the publishing process and how to maximise research impact, the latter being particularly important for research using animal models or alternative methods, to make the best use of any animal data generated and reduce animal testing in future. Different publishing models are explained, including anonymised peer review, open review and data sharing initiatives. The authors recommend researchers to adopt Norecopa's
PREPARE guidelines in advance of conducting animal experiments.
Chris Magee at Understanding Animal Research wrote a blog in July this year on the subject of
the apparent failure of animal studies to predict those drugs which will win regulatory approval. The blog is a comment to
a paper by Ben Ineichen and colleagues, who measured translation across various biochemical fields. This thread is also apparent in a recent paper by Louise Han and colleagues who discuss
how to overcome the challenges in collaboration between human and veterinary medicine (including translational failure) and discuss the use of cats and dogs in preclinical research.
Pierfrancesco Biasetti and coworkers discuss
the ethical challenges of creating biobanks (Genome Resource Banking, GRB) within the realm of wildlife research and conservation.
Wen Tsin Poh and Johnson Stanslas discuss
the 3R paradigm in the context of regulatory testing.
Do you use PIOSEE and NITS to manage crises? The airline industry does. Steffan Bäuerle has written
a short blog about these acronyms.
Finally, 'the final decision should rest with a human' - this is the conclusion of a group of doctors
who have examined the introduction of artificial intelligence in medicine.
Readers may rest assured that all of Norecopa's resources (newsletters, consensus statements, webpages and databases) have been produced entirely without the aid of AI!
We aim to produce one more newsletter in 2024, when the Governmental Report on Animal Welfare, due this month, has been published.
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Norecopas sekretær Adrian Smith fyller 70 i januar 2025. Ifølge
Lov om aldersgrenser for statsansatte m.fl. skulle han da forlate stillingen den 1. februar 2025, hvis ikke en søknad om forlengelse innvilges. Etter avtale mellom LMD og hans formelle arbeidsgiver (Veterinærinstituttet) er hans ansettelse imidlertid blitt forlenget til 1. februar 2026. Dette gir ham og Norecopa mer tid til å forholde seg til innholdet i den varslede dyrevelferdsmeldingen, slik at Norecopa kan sørge for en
sømløs overgang til den neste sekretæren.
Mattilsynet har publisert statistikken over
Norges bruk av forsøksdyr i 2023. Oversikten viser blant annet at
det ble brukt 1,57 millioner dyr, sammenlignet med
1,44 millioner i 2022. Det var små økninger i antallet mus og fisk, mens nedgangen i antallet rotter fortsetter. Igjen ble statistikken påvirket i stor grad av et mindre antall studier med mange titusen fisk.
Norecopa holder på å innlemme tallene i en samlefil for statistikken f.o.m. 2018 t.o.m. 2023, og vi vil presentere dette stoffet om kort tid.
Norecopas sekretær deltok som vanlig på Næringskomitéens budsjetthøring den
17. oktober (opptaket med to spørsmål fra komitéen til Norecopa etter innlegget fra Dyrevernalliansen;
teksten av talen; og
høringsnotatet).
Vi minner norske lesere om at man kan donere til Norecopa ved å bruke
Vipps, nr.
889149, med et valgfritt beløp.
På forhånd takk for støtten!
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Please help us in this task by forwarding this newsletter to friends and colleagues who may wish to subscribe. The white box at the bottom right of every page on Norecopa's website, or this link can be used.
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Earlier editions of Norecopa's newsletter can be read here. They were published in Norwegian up to no. 2-2017. Free text searches on
Norecopa's website will also find resources which we have described in newsletters.
Mention of an institution, publication or professional service in these newsletters does not necessarily mean that Norecopa endorses all aspects of the activity. Norecopa and its staff are not involved, financially or otherwise, in these external activities unless this is explicitly stated.
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Content:
Norecopa
Editor:
Adrian Smith
Org.no. 992 199 199
Bank account: 2801.53.03931
Vipps: 889149
All photographs in the newsletters have been taken by Norecopa or from
colourbox.com, unless otherwise specified.
You can read about
Norecopa's data protection and privacy policy here.
In compliance with the EU Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Norecopa updated its personal data and privacy policy in 2018.
You can read about this here.
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