Non-Animal Research and Testing Methodologies

Abstract

Scientific interest in non-animal alternatives has been reflected by their ongoing development and formal validation, and by the establishment of several international centres and university departments dedicated to this work (Leist et al. 2008a). In 1981 a Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing was established at the John Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, to support the creation, development, validation, and use of alternatives to animals in research, product safety testing, and education. In 2004 the British government established the National Centre for the Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of Animals in Research, whose ultimate aim is the replacement of all animal experiments. Similar centres exist in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Japan.