3-Ethical issues, harm-benefit assessment and humane endpoints

Each research project has its own set of ethical challenges, but the following general questions should be raised for all projects:

1. Have national or local research ethics committees already produced statements relevant to the research being planned?
2. Have the Three Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement) been addressed, and will any advances in this area be mentioned in publications of the study (remembering that many databases only index the title and abstract of papers)? Which non-animal alternatives have been considered but rejected?
3. Have the Three S's (Good Science, Good Sense and Good Sensibilities) been addressed?
4. Does the proposed study have a clear rationale and scientific relevance, and what will be the next step if the hypothesis is supported or rejected?
5. Have the experiments been carried out before, and is any repetition justifiable?
6. What approaches to reduce distress have been considered?

‘Choosing the right animal for the right reason’ (Harry Rowsell).
The large increase in use of genetically altered lines has created increasing concern about the suitability of these animals as models of human conditions. This, and the high level of attrition in animal research, is discussed in a paper by Joseph Garner (2014): The Significance of Meaning: Why Do Over 90% of Behavioral Neuroscience Results Fail to Translate to Humans, and What Can We Do to Fix It?

Ethics are also discussed in a separate section of this website. 

This section will be used to publish resources for fish researchers and animal care staff.

The RSPCA arranged a meeting on 23 February 2021 entitled Focus on Fish, which contained several relevant presentations. There was a session on Welfare Assessment and Humane Endpoints, including identifying ill health in zebrafish; humane endpoints and the 3Rs in regulatory assessments; and refining the Fish Acute Toxicity Test (OECD TG203).

Adam Staszny et al. (2021), working on fish ecotoxicity, have shown that the output of traditional risk assessment based on ecotoxicological data is not necessarily consistent with the real-life situation, and that changes in body and fin shape may good sub-lethal endpoints when performing in vivo studies.

The website https://www.humane-endpoints.info/en has sections dedicated to zebrafish.

• Andersen et al. (2023): Defining piscine endpoints: Towards score sheets for assessment of clinical signs in fish research  
• Heather Ikert et al. (2021) have investigated the possible use of circulating plasma microRNAs as biomarkers for the identification of acute stress responses in fish.
• Video-based identification of surrogate endpoints in experimental bacterial infections of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) (Keeling, 2018, Doctoral Thesis).
• Ellis and Katsiadaki (2020) Clarification of early end-points for refinement of animal experiments, with specific reference to fish. Laboratory Animals, 55(3): 244-253. 

This page was updated on 21 April 2023