Researchers promote ethical experiments

Labs in China adopt high standards for the treatment and welfare of animals used in scientific tests

Even though he spent seven years training at veterinary school, Zhou Quan still faces a steep learning curve when he started his professional career. The problem isn't a lack of clinic knowledge or technical proficiency, but the treatment of animals used in laboratory tests, and the respect, or lack of it, shown to them.

"The rule is that animals are capable of feelings, just like human beings. If you wouldn't want to be treated a certain way, then neither would they," says the 29-year-old, who works for Guangzhou General Pharmaceutical Research Institute Co.

Zhou oversees conditions for nearly 300 lab animals at the institute, including 100-plus rabbits, 20 to 40 dogs, and a large number of monkeys and mice.

It didn't take him long to absorb the principles of a system called the "Three Rs"-reducing the number of animals used in tests, replacing them if possible, and refining the test procedures to make them less harmful-but it prompted Zhou to reflect on the training he had received at college.

"The system just seemed so reasonable because it lowers the cost of conducting experiments and also yields results that are more widely accepted in global scientific circles," he says. "The question I kept asking myself was: Why didn't we apply these methods before?" he says.

Despite being the world's largest breeder and user of lab animals, China has no laws to protect the ones used in clinical research. The situation is set to change, though, because a rising number of international academic exchanges and the growing need for global recognition of results are prompting Chinese laboratories to adopt the three Rs in the treatment of their lab animals.

Humane treatment

To date, 56 "animal care and use" programs in China have been accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International, a private, nonprofit organization that promotes the humane treatment of animals in science through accreditation programs.

"I think it indicates that China wants to be on the global stage for biomedical research. It tells the world that we are taking good care of the animals we use in our research, not just with domestic standards but global standards," Kathryn Bayne, the association's global director, told China Daily at a seminar in Beijing on the ethical dimension and treatment of lab animals in March.

Sun Deming, director of the Department of Laboratory Animal Science at the National Research Institute for Health and Family Planning, says the country is planning to unveil a draft national standard on the humane treatment of animals by the end of the year.

"It will integrate the experiences of other countries in the management of lab animals, and will also include the latest concepts on the protection of animals used for research purposes," he says.

Data released by the Chinese Association for Laboratory Animal Sciences show that more than 20 million animals - including mice, rabbits, guinea pigs, dogs and monkeys - are used in research each year.

"It (better treatment) is an obligation that has to be met by the world's largest breeder and user of lab animals," Sun says.

Bayne says the need for global academic exchanges has spurred many Chinese labs to apply international standards to the treatment of animals.

"Universities and professors are now collaborating internationally. Certainly, pharmaceutical companies have a domestic market, but they also have international markets, so they need to show that they are doing work of the same quality and under the same conditions as the rest of the world," she says.

Cheng Shujun, director of the Toxicology Department at the Technology Center of the Guangdong Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, says that applying the three R's would help to yield better test results.

"Results from labs that apply the three R's will garner greater international recognition. That's a major motivation for laboratories to gain global accreditation for the humane treatment of lab animals," he says. "Also, if the animals are kept in good physical and mental health, the results will be more accurate," he added.

The China Food and Drug Administration's 2013 decision to remove the mandatory requirements for animal testing on some domestically manufactured cosmetics has won plaudits from both animal rights groups and cosmetics producers.

According to a new CFDA regulation enacted on June 30, domestically manufactured "non-specialized cosmetics" - including shampoo, soap, nail and some skincare products - can be sold without producers having to conduct animal testing.

However, the number of animals used in the sector accounts for just a tiny proportion of those used for scientific purposes, according to Sun, who says his department will further improve international exchanges on the promotion of the three Rs, and carefully study the experiences of other countries.

"We need to start by drawing up technical standards and a wider range of academic exchanges, because we can only reduce the number of tests on animals on the basis of adequate academic research," he says.

Judy Clark, head of the Animals in Science Regulation Unit at the Home Office of the United Kingdom, says she was surprised by the eagerness that Chinese researchers expressed about learning the three Rs.

The UK government and the Chinese Laboratory Animal Welfare and Ethics Committee have jointly held two seminars on the promotion of the ethics of using lab animals and their welfare, and Clark says her office is looking to do more to help its Chinese peers.

"Just because China has only recently become more aware of the three Rs does not mean it has to take years and years before they are implemented effectively. The researchers are hungry to learn and if we can accelerate the learning process by bringing experts here, then it's something really valuable for us to do," she says.

"It comes down to people wanting to do it, and we have a roomful of people here who want to do it," she says, referring to the 200 Chinese researchers who attended the seminar.

Transparency needed

One of the key ways of encouraging wider use of the three Rs is the promotion of greater transparency about procedures and conditions in labs, according to Clark.

"The public always questions things if they can't see what's going on, and when people can't see what's going on, they will assume the worst. We have to convince scientists that it's worth their while to spend time talking to schoolchildren and public groups and learning how to explain themselves in language the public can understand," she says.

Clark says the UK has a history of animal rights activists raiding labs and damaging equipment. "I think this is the right time for China to do it (implement more humane treatment). Once you have an active animal rights movement, it's very difficult to turn the tide. If you have the luxury of not having a rampant animal rights movement, then it's the time to do it.

"I feel that the Chinese population hasn't been too concerned about animal welfare, historically, but now it's more of an issue," she says.

Zhou, the vet, says the conditions under which lab animals are kept might be particularly poor at some universities where there is little public supervision. "This has become an issue because researchers are initially trained at universities, and if the colleges don't apply the principles correctly, it makes for a flawed beginning for the students," he says.

Moreover, the lack of specialist training, including courses and degrees in the management of lab animals, is another factor hampering change and improvement. "There are no courses on the management of lab animals, not to mention the three Rs, in colleges," Zhou says. "If we need such talents, we have to recruit from the veterinarians, but they are trained primarily to treat diseases in livestock," he says.

Bayne is also aware of the problem. "I think there is now recognition in China that veterinarians need specialist training in animal-based research. When they go to vet school, they are trained in the treatment of cats and dogs, mostly, but not the monkeys, mice and rats, rabbits and fish that we use in our research," she says.

"It's about an entire education system. In Western countries, veterinarians who oversee lab animals start their training all the way back in vet school," she says.

Lack of legislation

According to Sun, the Ministry of Science and Technology is currently drafting an amendment to a 1988 regulation on the management of laboratory animals that suggests welfare guidelines, but isn't legally enforceable.

"The regulation is very basic, so it fails to cover issues such as ethics and the welfare of lab animals," he says, adding that there is an urgent need for legislation to guarantee animal welfare and ensure that the three Rs are implemented correctly at thousands of laboratories nationwide.

"The decisions the authorities make are based on laws and regulations, so they aren't motivated by issues such as animal welfare, because there are no laws compelling them to do so and, therefore, no legal basis for their decisions."

The lack of legislation also provides local authorities with few incentives to invest in more humane treatment of lab animals. China has no special national research projects to ensure their welfare or the development of alternative testing methods.

The UK's Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 is widely regarded as the strictest legislation in the world on the protection of animals used in research, and Clark says similarly tough laws would help China.

"Legislation would provide very strong support. I think that China would benefit from enacting tough laws that underpin the ways in which people work," she says.

However, she warned that good enforcement is crucial for success. "To make the legislation really effective, the country would need guidance on how it can be implemented. It's all about how you apply the standards to make them effective in real life," she says.

xuwei@chinadaily.com.cn

1. Guinea pigs waiting to be fed with nutrition liquids at a lab in Hubei province. 2. A researcher feeds a guinea pig with nutrition liquid. 3. A veterinarian feeds mice at a lab operated by the Guangzhou Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau. 4. A researcher conducts tests on a guinea pig at a laboratory in Guangzhou. Photos provided to China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 05/08/2015 page24)