Animals are used in so many different areas of science, so how do we choose where to focus our resources as a small charity, and why do we choose these areas?

Animal research vs animal testing

When talking about animal use in science, we often find that the terms animal research and animal testing are used interchangeably, with animal testing often being used to cover all areas of animal use. However, there is an important distinction. When we talk about animal research, we’re referring to animals used for fundamental research, in the areas of basic and applied research. Animal testing, on the other hand, is what we classify as regulatory testing procedures for things like safety testing of products and medicines.

For us, it’s important to make this distinction clear, as we choose to focus on the areas of basic and applied research where the largest number of animals are used.

What does basic and applied research actually mean?

The UK Home Offices defines basic research as aiming to expand knowledge of structure, functioning and behaviour of living organisms and the environment. The top subject areas within this were the nervous system, immune system and oncology. Applied research (also sometimes referred to as translational research) is defined as attempting to address diseases through prevention and development of treatments, with the top subject areas being animal diseases and disorders, human cancer, and human nervous and mental disorders.  

In 2023, basic research accounted for 52% of all experimental procedures involving animals, and applied research accounted for 25%, making them the largest areas of animal use for research and testing.  

Why do we choose to focus on these areas?

One of the main reasons, as already mentioned, is that basic and applied research are the areas in which most procedures involving animals are conducted. In total, 1,138,500 experimental procedures used animals for these purposes out of the 2,681,686 total procedures. This is particularly important because people often believe regulatory testing is the largest user of animals. But only 21% of experimental procedures were conducted for regulatory testing in 2023.

Crucially, there is no legal requirement or set of guidelines to be followed when conducting basic or applied research. Talking about ‘legal requirements’ is always a bit of a grey area when it comes to animal research. There is actually no law in the UK that requires animals to be used in research or testing for any purpose. However, international guidelines that the UK follows for regulatory testing often get called a ‘legal’ requirement, but aren’t written into UK law themselves.

For basic and applied research though, there are no laws, guidelines or international standards in place that state animal models must be used, which means that researchers are completely free to answer their research questions using non-animal methods. Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, researchers should actually be considering non-animal methods first under the R of replacement. However, we do know that replacement isn’t fulfilled as robustly as it should be, which is why a lot of our work centres on improving this through stronger regulations, training, and education.

What is the Government doing to help phase out basic and applied research

In previous years and previous governments, much of the talk around phasing out animal use has focused on regulatory testing.

In 2024, the new Government’s manifesto stated that they will “partner with scientists, industry and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing.”

This initially concerned us, as it seemed this would focus solely on regulatory testing, and we have written to ministers in the Home Office, the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, and the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to share the issues we believe need to be addressed.

However, in a recent answer to a written parliamentary question, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology stated that:

“the Government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods in basic, applied, translational and regulatory research and testing later this year.”  

It’s fantastic to have confirmation that basic and applied research will be included in this plan, and we look forward to seeing exactly what the plan will involve.  

Want to have your say? Write to your MP and make sure they are informed about the Government’s manifesto pledge, and that the inclusion of basic and applied research is a priority for both animals and human