Personal experiences at FRAME and ECVAM are recalled, alongside the evolutionary progress of the Three Rs (replacement, reduction, refinement,) approach to animal experimentation, described in great decades analogous to the Great Ages of Western Civilisation.

While the German Federal Government has set itself the goal to make an active contribution to reducing animal experiments, the use of transgenic animals in biomedical research continuously increases every year. It is against this background that the study at hand aimed at providing an overview over the goals and the contents of research projects performed in Germany, in the course of which transgenic animals were produced or used in experimental procedures. Specifically, it was envisaged to spell out those specific areas of research, for which transgenic animals mainly were being used. Subsequently it was evaluated whether the research goals revealed might also be pursued with non animal test methods. In a literature survey, a total of 577 scientific publications relevant for the purposes of the study were collected. This material enables conclusions on those scientific areas, in which transgenic animals are used, applying to fundamental research, but not on their use in routine procedures in applied research or for the maintenance of transgenic breeds, since such purposes do not tend to be the subject of publications in scientific journals. According to the topics covered by the publications, main areas of biomedical research with. transgenic animals can be found in the fields of neurobiology, immunology, cardiology, embryology and oncology. However their use can be discerned in all other areas of fundamental biomedical research as well. In accordance with the official German laboratory animal statistics, the vast majority of transgenic animals used were mice followed by rats and pigs, Additionally. singular research projects with fish, rabbits and chicken were recorded. (In the official German laboratory animals statistics, very small numbers of transgenic hamsters, sheep and amphibians were also recorded in the past years.) A high percentage of the rats were used in cardiovascular research, whereas transgenic pigs as a rule were produced and bred as organ donors in xenotransplantation research. The majority of research projects either dealt with the experimental use of already established transgenic animal lines, or they described that transgenic animals specifically were produced for the purpose of the respective research project. Mostly, transgenesis was initiated by inserting the foreign gene into the germ cell genome. In some research projects, it was reported that the transgenic material was inserted into normally bred animals some time after parturition.

Background: In vitro protein synthesis on exogenous messenger ribonucleic acids can be performed in various systems including cytoplasmic extract from eukaryotic cells, rabbit reticulocyte lysate and wheat germ extract. For optimal translation, an energy regeneration system based on creatine phosphate and creatine kinase is commonly employed for the regeneration of the endogenous adenosine triphosphate pools. Creatine kinase purchased from various commercial suppliers can be partially oxidised. Oxidised creatine kinase is not biologically active and might not allow the efficient initiation of translation of exogenous mRNAs in eukaryotic cell extracts in vitro.
Results: We successfully used dithiothreitol to reduce and therefore reactivate commercially available creatine kinase. When employed in cytoplasmic extracts obtained from eukaryotic cells grown in monolayers, the reactivated creatine kinase restored translation of the exogenous mRNAs.
Conclusion: Lyophilised creatine kinase obtained from commercial suppliers can be purchased as an oxidised monomer. The reactivation of creatine kinase using a reducing agent such as dithiothreitol restores the biological activity of this enzyme. This procedure might therefore be extended to various other in vitro conditions and biological systems in which the maintenance of an efficient ATP-regenerating system is critical.  

Seven years ago, the veterinary association for animal protection (Tierärrtliche Vereinigung für Tierschutz e. v., TVT) in Germany first published an orientation guide on the ethics of animal protection aimed at the entire veterinary profession: the “Codex Veterinarius - ethical guiding principles on veterinary action for the good and the protection of animals”. The dilemmas of the veterinary profession have not changed since then, but as the principle that “nothing can be so good that it cannot be improved” also applies to the Codex, the two authors have attempted to optimise the few weak spots of the Codex. Jörg Luy sees the task of the Codex in surpassing the animal protection law in two respects: on the one hand regarding moral aspects that cannot be regulated (e.g. respect for the "intrinsic value" of the animal, which is greater than its “utilitarian value”) and on the other hand in cases where the law does not live up to its own goals (e.g. regarding the inconsistent regulation on causing “longer term or repeated grave pain or suffering”).

During October 2005, InterNICHE National Contacts Anya Yushchenko and Lena Maroueva, and Co-ordinator Nick Jukes, began a large-scale promotion of alternatives across the Ukraine and Russia. The InterNICHE outreach produced a number of positive results: presentations, demonstrations and training in alternatives to over 500 teachers and students; agreements at two institutes to replace harmful animal use in education across a whole department and faculty respectively; information gathering, and discussions with teachers about potential future replacement; reaching a massive audience through positive media coverage; and empowerment of campaigners, including InterNICHE National Contacts who successfully organised the majority of the activities. To continue the successes, funds to enlarge the Russian microloan System of alternatives and to make donations of alternatives to institutes are urgently needed. Support for broadening the InterNICHE impact across Ukraine, Russia and Asian republics through the distribution of translated literature, video, freeware alternatives and web-based resources is also required. Such activity not only supports the development of a progressive, humane education, but impacts positively on animal use in research and testing by creating an environment more conducive to alternatives in general. This is important now as anima I testing laboratories consider relocating in or sub-contracting to ex-Soviet countries and in central Asia. New InterNICHE connections have already been made with Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan, and there are many open doors.