Today (1 November 2006) as government advisors on animal experiments (the Animal Procedures Committee or APC) publish their annual report, ex-Committee member Dr Gill Langley criticises the Home Office for continuing to license cruel animal experiments even though a total non-animal replacement exists (1).

In its report for 2005, the APC confirms that it considered a licence application to use mice for training personnel in readiness for a new ‘mouse’ safety test for polio vaccine batches (2). The new mouse test is being described as an “alternative” to the traditional 22-day test on monkeys (causing paralysis and severe suffering (3)) despite the fact that 180 mice are used per test and the spinal injection procedure still causes paralysis, and despite there being a totally non-animal replacement test.

The non-animal (molecular) MAPREC test (4) has been accepted by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 1999 as a method of ensuring consistency of polio vaccine production. Yet despite this and some 13 years of needlessly slow progress through the validation system, the test has still not been prioritised for having clear potential to replace animal experiments involving severe suffering. Under EU legislation, even if a non-animal replacement test has not yet achieved full formal acceptance (a process that can take many years), member states can take unilateral action and adopt the replacement method.

Dr Gill Langley, Science Director for non-animal medical research charity the Dr Hadwen Trust, has criticised the government and the international research community for inaction over the non-animal MAPREC test. Dr Langley served for eight years as a member of the APC, until early 2006.

She says:

“In the years that I served on the APC, the government’s complacency and hypocrisy over animal experiments was often apparent. This latest case is a classic example. The UK government should have promoted the non-animal replacement technique instead of licensing more monkey or mouse experiments. Its inaction reveals the paucity of the government’s commitment to replacing animal research and the general lack of initiative internationally. A test that paralyses hundreds of mice at a time has been fast-tracked by the world’s medical community and touted as an ‘alternative’ to hideous monkey tests, whilst a genuine non-animal replacement technique has been left to crawl at a snail’s pace through the validation system.”


Dr Langley reflects:

“There is an inbuilt and illogical resistance to non-animal test methods which must be overcome. It is scandalous that this non-animal test has been allowed to languish in the validation system, despite its clear potential to replace cruel animal tests of limited scientific credibility. The MAPREC test has been under development for an incredible 13 years, not because it lacks potential but because non-animal research lacks sufficient political and scientific commitment. This irrational prejudice against modern non-animal techniques must be overcome and that message needs to come loud and clear right from the top.”

The Dr Hadwen Trust is writing to the Home Office to urge it to take immediate action to progress the MAPREC test as a replacement for animal tests.

Notes:

1. The APC advises the Home Secretary on matters concerning the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. Under this law, animal experiments are defined as any procedure with the potential to cause “pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm.”
2. APC Report, Page 4, paras. 11-16:  http://www.official-documents.co.uk/document/hc0506/hc16/1660/1660.pdf
3. Many monkeys endure cramps and paralysis during the 22-day test, which is ranked as very severe. About 80 monkeys are used to test each combined (trivalent) vaccine batch. It has been estimated that, worldwide, more monkeys are used for this test than for any other single biomedical purpose. However, the relevance and reliability of the results for vaccine safety in use by humans have never been formally validated.
4. MAPREC is Mutant Analysis by Polymerase chain reaction and Restriction Enzyme Cleavage — a technique which identifies and quantifies mutations which may occur during manufacture.
5. The Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research is the UK’s leading medical research charity funding and promoting exclusively non-animal research techniques to replace animal experiments. Our vital work benefits humans with the development of more relevant and reliable science whilst also benefiting laboratory animals. For info: www.drhadwentrust.org.uk or for technical information: www.scienceroom.org