Abstract
Consideration and incorporation of all available scientific information is an important part of the planning of any scientific project. As regards research with sentient animals, EU Directive 86/609/EEC for the protection of laboratory animals requires scientists to consider whether any planned animal experiment can be substituted by other scientifically satisfactory methods not entailing the use of animals or entailing less animals or less animal suffering, before performing the experiment. Thus, collection of relevant information is indispensable in order to meet this legal obligation. However, no standard procedures or services exist to provide convenient access to the information required to reliably determine whether it is possible to replace, reduce or refine a planned animal experiment in accordance with the 3Rs principle. The search engine Go3R, which is available free of charge under http://Go3R.org, runs up to become such a standard service. Go3R is the world-wide first search engine on alternative methods building on new semantic technologies that use an expert-knowledge based ontology to identify relevant documents. Due to Go3R's concept and design, the search engine can be used without lengthy instructions. It enables all those involved in the planning, authorisation and performance of animal experiments to determine the availability of non-animal methodologies in a fast, comprehensive and transparent manner. Thereby, Go3R strives to significantly contribute to the avoidance and replacement of animal experiments.
Highlights
EU Directive 86/609/EEC for the protection of laboratory animals (Commission of the European Communities, 1986) obliges scientists to consider whether any planned animal experiment can be substituted by other scientifically satisfactory methods not entailing the use of animals or entailing less animals or less animal suffering, before performing the experiment
Altex 26, 1/09 requirement to base this decision on the best available information. This scientific standard and legal obligation can only be met if all those involved in the planning, licensing and performance of biomedical research are able to obtain all available relevant information on alternative methods in accordance to the 3Rs principle
An essential step in the development of the Go3R search engine during the feasibility study performed by Transinsight GmbH, ZEBET at the BfR, the Biotechnology Center of the Technical University Dresden and Scientific Consultancy – Animal Welfare has involved creating an initial seed 3Rs ontology by defining those concepts and terms that are relevant for alternative methods in accordance with the 3Rs principle and inferring the unique relations between them
Summary
A large variety of databases and websites with information on alternative methods exists (Hakkinen and Green, 2002). Specialized added-value alternatives databases, such as AnimAlt-ZEBET7 and ECVAM/DB-ALM8, and an abundance of websites with information on animal experiments and alternatives or measures in line with the 3Rs principle are available, such as the websites of DG Environment of the EU Commission, the Consumer Products Quality and Safety Unit, formerly known as the European Chemicals Bureau, Council of Europe, European Food Safety Authority, Animal Welfare Information Center, AltTox, Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments, UK National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research, Swiss Federal Agency for Veterinary Affairs, German National Ministry for Education and Research, German Federal Ministry for Nutrition, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, Netherlands Centre for Alternatives to Animal Use, Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and Environment, Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations22 Such websites contain very diverse and unequally processed information – and oftentimes only concerning certain aspects of the 3Rs concept – and mostly have to be queried and scanned one-by-one by the searching scientist.
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