The 3R principles and regulation of animal research
The use of animals in biomedical and other research presents an ethical dilemma: we do not want to lose scientific benefits, nor do we want to cause laboratory animals to suffer”. In Switzerland, the majority of animals (64%) is used in fundamental research and a minority (ca. 20%) are used for developing and testing pharmaceutical and chemical products. The 3R-strategies (“replace, reduce, refine”) are “today widely accepted by scientists as a moral obligation to treat animals humanely and if possible to use alternative methods in experiments”. The national and international regulatory framework concerning the use of animals for research stipulates adherence to the 3R principles[3-5]. In addition, Swiss law requires researchers to demonstrate a favourable harm-benefit ratio to justify animal experiments[6, 7]. There is an ongoing discussion in the fields of ethics, law and science concerning the interpretation of the 3Rs and harm-benefit analysis. Eminent ethicists have recently proposed a more elaborated, argued way how to balance social benefit and animal welfare in this context.