The 3R's

The principles of the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) were developed over 50 years ago providing a framework for performing more humane animal research. Since then they have been embedded in national and international legislation and regulations on the use of animals in scientific procedures, as well as in the policies of organisations that fund or conduct animal research.  

Celphedia is committed to the principles of the 3Rs in research to minimize the effects on the animals used. The staff that are involved in animal research is regularly participating to symposia and workshops designed to promote the 3Rs, in line withe the french regulation that impose a continuous training of staff working with animals. The aim of these meetings is to share best practice and contributions to the 3 Rs across different animal species and disciplines. 

Replacement

We strive to use alternative research methods wherever possible to replace the need for using animals.

Animal research remains essential for advancing our understanding of the body functioning and pathophysiological mechanisms leading to diseases, and thus developing new medicines and veterinary medicines.

Nevertheless, prior to designing any study which utilizes animals, we verify whether alternatives to intact animal usage will provide acceptable results. Celphedia scientists employ a wide range of non-animal experimental technologies in their research including cell and tissue culture systems or medical imaging.

However, some studies can only be undertaken in a whole animal, for example, when considering complex interactions between environment and genes, when evaluation how genetic mutations affect multiple organs, or when studying higher brain functions such as learning and memory and related diseases.

Reduction

Our research is designed to use the minimum number of animals possible to answer appropriately and reliably the scientific question adressed.

Case studies:

Phenomin nodes of Celphedia are involved in international programs such IMPC dedicated to generate and characterize knock-out mice for all the genes. This effort is sahred through different  partners to avoid performing the same effort in different countries.

Our rodent models are available for all the international scientific community through a centralized repositories so that scientist do not generate the same models

A wide range of our data are freely available as opensource through IMPC portal (mousephenotype.org) and are reusable in user-suitable-way.

Our protocols are cross-validated as far as possible and shared with partners to reduce the number of animals and make easier in-site development.

We are implementing a reference range for control data to make easier comparisons of experimental groups and reduce the number of individuals as time-point controls

Refinement

Refinement of our practices enables us to improve animal conditions and research robustness

Housing modules are mostly provided with several types of enrichments, and almost all animals are group-housed to allow social interactions between individuals.

Experimental procedures are continually refined to provide the best possible conditions for animals that are involved in research.

Case study:

Home cage monitoring systems allows evaluation of a wide range of functional parameters in group-housed animals without or with reduced intervention of the experimenter.