Animal experimentation: towards new alternatives in Belgium
The pooling of equipment and skills of the entire scientific community should allow the development of new approaches requiring a critical size and multidisciplinary skills, according to the three executives.
It will then be a question of applying alternative methods to the business world. The project will be financed for three years by the different levels of power involved. Additional state-of-the-art equipment will be acquired with these funds.
Among the research that should be designed is the 3D bioprinting of in vitro models, which makes it possible to artificially produce biological tissues; multi-organ in vitro systems aimed at reproducing the biological complexity of the human body, for example to test vaccines or study the development of diseases; or the development of in silico methods – computer simulation of an experiment.
“We must do everything we can to continue to reduce the number of animals used in our laboratories“
For the Walloon Minister for Research and Innovation Willy Borsus, “this pooling of knowledge and equipment is an example of good practice“.
“We must do everything we can to continue to reduce the number of animals used in our laboratoriesconfirms Céline Tellier, Walloon Minister for Animal Welfare. His Brussels counterpart Bernard Clerfayt points out that, since 2015, the number of laboratory animals used in the Brussels Region has fallen by 45%.We are on the right track, but it is by supporting research that we will be able to further reduce the number of animals used in experiments.“