“Test, test, test” was one of the mantras of the WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus against COVID-19. The issue is particularly relevant in the “unlocking” phase several European countries are going through, as the curve of the pandemics bends. At this stage, and while effective vaccines...

EU-ToxRisk is an Integrated European ‘Flagship’ Programme Driving Mechanism-based Toxicity Testing and Risk Assessment for the 21st century. The vision of this project is to drive the required paradigm shift in toxicological testing away from ‘black box’ animal testing towards a toxicological assessment...

In 1959, The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique was published by Russell and Burch, introducing the 3Rs concept (replacement, reduction, and refinement) regarding animal use in the scientific community. Just over 60 years later, it is timely to review progress to date and the future outlook...

Animal testing, a scientist’s opinion   Interview with Maurice Whelan, head of EURL ECVAM (European Union Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM) at the JRC (Joint Research Centre of the European Commission) in Ispra, Italy.     How do you think progress is going on reducing...

Animal testing, a scientist’s opinion   Interview with Professor PierFranco Conte, Full Professor of Oncology at the University of Padova and Director of the Division of Medical Oncology 2 at the Istituto Oncologico Veneto in Padova.     In your opinion, why is animal use for scientific purposes still...

Interview with Dr Jason Johnson, British Heart Foundation Senior Research Fellow, Associate Professor of Cardiovascular Pathology, and leads the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Pathology at Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol.     As a scientist, in general do you find that the 3Rs concept is...