Animal-derived products in science and current alternatives

Abstract

More than fifty years after the 3Rs definition and despite the continuous implementation of regulatory measures, animals continue to be widely used in basic research. Their use comprises not only in vivo experiments with animal models, but also the production of a variety of supplements and products of animal origin for cell and tissue culture, cell-based assays, and therapeutics. The animal-derived products most used in basic research are fetal bovine serum (FBS), extracellular matrix proteins such as Matrigel™, and antibodies. However, their production raises several ethical issues regarding animal welfare. Additionally, their biological origin is associated with a high risk of contamination, resulting, frequently, in poor scientific data for clinical translation. These issues support the search for new animal-free products able to replace FBS, Matrigel™, and antibodies in basic research. In addition, in silico methodologies play an important role in the reduction of animal use in research by refining the data previously to in vitro and in vivo experiments. In this review, we depicted the current available animal-free alternatives in in vitro research.