The National Centre for the 3Rs

Today the UK government has released a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods. Our Chief Executive Vicky Robinson welcomed the strategy:

"The new government strategy will help to speed up efforts to replace animal research and testing, while also recognising the continued need for high standards of animal welfare where alternative methods currently do not exist. The strategy is ambitious and will ensure that the UK maintains its world leading position. The NC3Rs is at the heart of delivering the strategy and I am excited about the opportunities to turn the ambitions into reality."

Animal testing to be phased out faster as UK unveils roadmap for alternative methods New plan backs researchers to seize on new and developing opportunities to phase out animal tests with specific commitments for the coming years.

To mark our 20-year anniversary we have produced an animated video showcasing our key achievements since the NC3Rs was founded in 2004.

By applying the 3Rs principles throughout the scientific process, we move towards models that are more reproducible, accurate and in turn, of increased value to the community in driving forward scientific understanding.

Thank you to all of the organisations who have funded our work, participated in our activities either as grant holders, collaborators or staff and helped champion the 3Rs around the world.

Twenty years of pioneering better science Highlighting key achievements of the NC3Rs since the organisation was founded in 2004. By applying the 3Rs principles throughout the scientific process, we m...

We have been taking part in the annual Pint of Science UK festival since 2014. As the festival’s longest running sponsor, we have hosted 25 events with over 50 speakers in 13 cities across the UK, reaching almost 1,000 members of the public. This year, nine scientists will share their NC3Rs-funded replacement research in events in Nottingham, Manchester and London.

Our London event ‘How to build a body’, featuring non-animal technologies including bioprinting an organ-on-chips, is now sold out! If you want to learn more about the work we fund to replace the use of animals in research, tickets are still available for our events in Nottingham and Manchester, exploring how scientists use cells in the lab to understand what happens inside the body and alternative approaches to improve the predictive power of cardiovascular research:

🧫🧪 Monday 13 May, Nottingham – (Cell) culture change: https://www.nc3rs.org.uk/events/nc3rs-pint-science-2024-nottingham

❤️ 🩸 Tuesday 14 May, Manchester – Not just a bleeding heart: https://www.nc3rs.org.uk/events/nc3rs-pint-science-2024-manchester

On top of the 50+ universities and institutions supporting , we would also like to say a big thank you to our external sponsors and partners!

Proteintech
Oxford North
The National Centre for the 3Rs
Bruntwood SciTech
NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre
Promega UK
Alzheimer's Research UK
My Name'5 Doddie Foundation
ELRIG
ISSET
KwizzBit
Overleaf

A new blog explores the explosion of interest and potential in new approach methodologies (NAMs). Hear from our NAMs Advisory Group as they discuss their recent paper on opportunities to embed NAMs in chemical and drug safety assessment: https://nc3rs.org.uk/news/nams-advisory-group-blog

Alongside our Head of Toxicology (Dr Fiona Sewell) and Head of Innovation (Dr Cathy Vickers), the expert group have identified technical, cultural, regulatory and economic barriers to advancing NAMs through validation to application and provide their perspective on the steps needed to make NAM-based approaches the default starting position for safety decision-making.

We are partnering with Pint of Science UK to invite you to learn more about the science behind replacing animals in research in May. From non-animal technologies in London, cardiovascular science in Manchester and cell-based approaches in Nottingham, hear from NC3Rs-funded scientists about their work finding alternatives to the use of animals in science.

🧫🧪 Monday 13 May, Nottingham – (Cell) culture change: https://lnkd.in/eHUDEXd4

❤️ 🩸 Tuesday 14 May, Manchester – Not just a bleeding heart: https://lnkd.in/e9PPm23t

💪🦴 Wednesday 15 May, London – How to build a body: https://lnkd.in/eyp2wG5U

Come join us on our seventh year of participating in this brilliant festival, showcasing outstanding 3Rs science!

Today there is a debate planned in the UK Parliament in response to two e-petitions that received a large number of signatures. The first calls for a ban on the use of dogs in research and testing and the second an end to the use of animals in toxicity testing by its replacement with non-animal methods. In our latest blog, our Chief Executive Dr Vicky Robinson describes some of the NC3Rs work that addresses the concerns raised.

Animal research debate in the UK Parliament | NC3Rs Discover how the NC3Rs works to address the use of dogs in research and replace the use of animals in toxicity testing with non-animal methods, two topics being debated in Parliament later today.

Hear from our Chief Executive Dr Vicky Robinson and Board Chair Professor Julia Buckingham discussing the very start of NC3Rs through to the opportunities as we look ahead to our 20-year anniversary and beyond: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bftYBxPJIeM

NC3Rs International 3Rs Prize now open!

Have you published a paper in the past three years that could have major 3Rs impacts, whether the 3Rs were a primary focus of your work or a secondary benefit? Wherever you are in the world, you can apply for the NC3Rs' International 3Rs Prize.

This prestigious annual award, sponsored by GSK, consists of a £2k personal award and a £28k prize grant to further the 3Rs impact of the winning research. Researchers in any field of academia or industry are eligible. Visit nc3rs.org.uk/international-3rs-prize to find out more and apply by 1 May – or why not encourage a colleague to apply?

This year marks the 20-year anniversary of the NC3Rs. Our Head of Communications, Emma Stokes, looks forward to the celebratory activities we will be undertaking and supporting over the course of 2024, all badged under a new evolved logo.

Our latest research round-up explores the work we have funded to refine the use of fish in research. A decade of NC3Rs-funded work in this area has built the evidence base for refinements including automated behaviour assessment and non-invasive welfare markers and supported the development of innovative tools and techniques to minimise the pain, suffering and distress of fish in research.

Read the research round-up: https://www.nc3rs.org.uk/news/research-round-refining-fish-research

Introducing impact stories!

The NC3Rs is the largest funder of research to replace, reduce or refine the use of animals in the UK with over £120M committed to over 500 funded projects to date. Impact stories showcase our grant holders and how NC3Rs-funded research comes together to develop innovative new 3Rs tools and technologies that are pioneering better science.

The first three impact stories released are:

Synthetic hydrogels: replicating in vivo environments
Hear from Professor Cathy Merry and her research group in a video interview about developing synthetic cell culture structures, called hydrogels, that support 3D culture for multiple cell types and using NC3Rs funding for their application across multiple scientific disciplines.

Using “waste” tissue to screen novel cardiac therapies
Dr Paola Campagnolo has used NC3Rs funding from a Project grant and a Skills and Knowledge Transfer award to develop an ex vivo model of the epicardium, the outer surface layer of the heart, to replace the use of mice for high throughput screening of cardiac therapies in academia and industry.

Using clinical inspiration to refine small animal radiotherapy
Dr Karl Butterworth and PhD student Dr Kathryn Brown have applied high precision cancer radiotherapy techniques used to treat human patients to improve the reproducibility and translatability of preclinical animal trials.

Discover more: https://nc3rs.org.uk/news/introducing-impact-stories

Introducing research round-ups!

We have been using Twitter to share 3Rs advances with scientists and the public for years, but with turbulent times on the platform we want to make sure that this information is accessible for all. That's why we will be translating our twitter threads, where we focus on the 3Rs in a particular specialty or area of research, into research round-ups for our website. Our first one focuses on the work of NC3Rs-funded researchers to replace animals in the search for new stroke treatments.

Research round-up: Replacing animals in stroke research | NC3Rs Discover NC3Rs-funded science to replace animals in research to understand and treat stroke.