Abstract
A literature survey funded by the Foundation Animalfree Research was performed to obtain an overview on animal experiments in nanotechnology. Scientific articles from Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland published between 2004 and 2007 were collected. A total of 164 articles was retrieved covering in vivo nanotechnological research. The majority of animal experiments were conducted in "nanomedicine", i.e. nanotechnology in the health care area, to study targeted drug, vaccine or gene delivery. Further areas of research relate to nanotechnology-based imaging technologies, the toxicity of nanomaterials, tissue engineering for regenerative treatments, and magnetic tumour thermotherapy. Many experiments were classified as moderately and even severely distressful to the animals. Due to the significance of the scientific topics pursued, the possible scientific benefit of the research depicted in the articles is also assigned to be moderate to high. Nevertheless, it has to be asked whether such animal experiments are truly the only means to answer the scientific questions addressed in nanotechnology. An overview on non-animal test methods used in nanotechnological research revealed a broad spectrum of methodologies applied in a broad spectrum of scientific areas, including those for which animal experiments are being performed. Explicit incentives to avoid animal experiments in nanotechnology currently can only be found in the area of nanotoxicology, but not in the area of nanomedicine. From the point of view of animal welfare, not least because of the new technologies that arise due to nanotechnology, it is time for a paradigm change both in fundamental and applied biomedical research to found research strategies on non-animal test methods.
Highlights
1.1 Animal welfare relevance of nanotechnology “Nanotechnology is increasingly considered to be the future technology”, the German Federal Ministry for Research declares on its website where it presents an overriding strategy to promote the new technology1
1.3 Goal and contents of the literature survey. It is against this background that it is the goal of the literature survey to reveal those scientific topics in the areas of nanomedicine and nanotechnology, in which laboratory animal use is most likely to occur and in which the European Union, the EU Member States and other European Countries should become active most urgently in order to fulfil their animal welfare obligations as spelled out in the Protocol of Amsterdam and in Directive 86/609/EEC and their respective national legislations
The authors observed that the magnetic fluids infiltrated the prostate and that stable steady-state intratumoural treatment temperatures could be induced. They conclude that these results demonstrate the feasibility of magnetic fluid hyperthermia (MFH) in a prostate cancer model
Summary
1.1 Animal welfare relevance of nanotechnology “Nanotechnology is increasingly considered to be the future technology”, the German Federal Ministry for Research declares on its website where it presents an overriding strategy to promote the new technology. Novel systems for targeted drug delivery are under development and recently nanoparticles could be channelled into tumour cells in order to treat them e.g. through heating” (Commission of the European Communities, 2004, page 4). These statements point to the importance assigned to nanotechnology by those responsible in politics and science, and to two areas of possible use of laboratory animals in the area of nanotechnology: both for research in nanomedicine and for the safety testing of materials with nanoscale properties. A continuous increase in animal experiments in these areas over the coming years seems likely unless effective preventive measures are put in force
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