Comment on the Talking Points in EMBO reports, June 2007

Frank Gannon's introduction to the Talking Points about the use of animals in scientific research (Gannon, 2007) underestimated the burgeoning field of animal replacement techniques. Although it is clearly important to be aware of the philosophical arguments against animal research, it is also vital to discuss the scientific issues that surround the debate. Non‐animal research methods have enormous potential to replace animal experiments both now and in the future; furthermore, these cutting‐edge techniques often outperform the animal experiments that they replace. The British government now recognizes non‐animal techniques as ‘advanced methods’ that broaden the scope of animal models and overcome some of their limitations. The article mentions that the implementation of the European Union's REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) directive will lead to the use of up to 45 million animals in toxicity tests. This was the original figure suggested by the European Commission; …