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Animal experimentation - the facts

Animal experiments in the UK

A liger - half lion, half tiger - has been experimentally bred

UK law both requires and regulates experiments on animals.

Any new drug must be tested on at least two different species of live mammal, one of which must be a large non-rodent.

The way scientists can use animals has been controlled by legislation since 1822, and the law has grown much stricter since then. The Animals Act of 1986, for example, insists that no animal experiments be conducted if there is a realistic alternative.

Testing on animals now requires three ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Office licences - for the institution, the scientist and the project. They must outline the potential benefits and prove there is no alternative. Random inspections and on-site vets are mandatory.

The number of experiments has been broadly static for a number of years and is about half the figure in the 1970s.

Basic facts

• 2.73 million experiments in the 12 months of 2002
• Total number of procedures rose by 4.2% on 2001
• About 80% are for research and drug development
• Safety testing accounts for most of the rest

NB: These figures are not complete and take no account of 'wasted' animals - animals bred for their tissues and then discarded or animals rejected because their genetic modifications did not work.

If these were included in the annual statistics, the figures for animal use would be considerably higher.

Which animals are used?

• Rodents 84%
• Fish, amphibians, reptiles 12%
• Large mammals 2.1%
• Small mammals 1.4%
• Dogs and cats 0.3%
• Primates 0.1%
• Great apes such as chimpanzees cannot be used in experiments

Future trends

Experts believe the figures have now probably bottomed out.

They suggest that new classes of drugs now in development that act in very specific ways in the body may lead to more animals being used in future years, and to the use of more primates.

For example, as science seeks to tackle the neurological diseases afflicting a 'greying population', it is said we will need a steady supply of monkeys on which to test the safety and effectiveness of the next-generation pills.

Experts say the extremely specific way these novel pharma products will work means primates - because their brain architecture is very similar to our own - will be the only animals suitable for experimentation.

It's also possible that new EU proposals on the health and safety aspects of chemicals may also substantially push up the numbers of animals needed for testing.

Genetically modified animals

The numbers of genetically modified animals used in UK labs continues to rise.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Office statistics for 2002 show GM mice and rats were involved in 710,000 experiments, representing an 11% increase on the previous year.

Objections to these figures

Animal rights campaigners have criticised these official figures, claiming that they give little information as to how much the animals concerned suffer.

Alternatives to animal testing

There are a number of alternatives to testing on animals. You can learn more about this at www.bbc.co.uk/science/hottopics/animalexperiments/alternatives.shtml