Where Ideas Grow

First Center in Portugal dedicated to replacing, reducing and refining animal experimentation

The first 3R Knowledge Center in Portugal dedicated to the replacement, reduction, and refinement of animal experimentation (3Rs) in Science was recently launched. The initiative was announced at the i3S during an event dedicated to this theme, which took place on the 26th and 27th of April and which brought together researchers from various areas, namely those funded at European level for the development of methods that replace animals and/or reduce the impact on animals that are used in research.

Until now Portugal was one of the few European countries that did not have a 3R Knowledge Center and for Anna Olsson, leader of the Laboratory Animal Science group, who is coordinating this initiative in Portugal, “this center will boost research and training in 3Rs with impact on the national scientific community”.

The 3Rs principle for life sciences and health research advocates that researchers should always seek to Replace, Reduce, and Refine animal experimentation. First presented in 1959, the principle of the 3Rs is now enshrined in legislation that regulates the use of animals for scientific purposes, both at European level (Directive 2010/63/EU) and Portuguese (Decreto-Lei 113/2013). “We use a lot more alternative models than critics think. But animal experimentation is not going to be replaced any time soon. That is why it is so important to invest not only in replacing, but also in refining animal research”, adds Anna Olsson.

Although the practice of the 3Rs was already incorporated in Portuguese scientific practice, there was no organized structure dedicated to the subject at the national level. The newly created 3RKC – 3R Knowledge Center, is the first in Portugal and “despite being born in i3S, it invites the entire scientific community in Portugal (and beyond) to join the initiative”. The 3RKC’s vision, according to Anna Olsson, is to “disseminate knowledge and provide practical support to researchers looking to implement the 3Rs in their research”.

António Jacinto, coordinator of the NOVA Institute for Medical Systems Biology project and invited to the 3RKC launch event, stresses that the “3Rs are a priority in research” and adds that the institution he represents “will be one of the first to join the 3RKC”.

Even without a specific budget for the 3Rs in the national scientific funding system, researchers in Portugal have gained international recognition for the development of methods that substitute animals and that reduce the impact on the animals that are used. In fact, two of the most prestigious European awards within the scope of the 3Rs were recently awarded to Portuguese researchers: in 2021, Inês Preguiça from the University of Coimbra received the Refinement award from the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to Animal Testing (EPAA), for the development of a method of voluntarily administering drugs to laboratory animals; In 2022, it was the turn of Daniel Ferreira, from i3S, to be recognized by the National Center for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) with the International 3Rs Prize Award. In this case, the proposal was an innovative method to establish organ-on-chip models with reduced costs, making this model accessible to more laboratories.

Many steps in the research process already happen regularly without animal experimentation, using less complex in-vitro methods. But the simplicity of these systems limits the type of questions that can be addressed. Anna Olsson explains that biomedical research that seeks to decode disease mechanisms and develop therapies “needs to have models that recapitulate/simulate the complexity of the organism, including different types of organs, blood circulation and the immune system. Therefore, it is essential to demonstrate and share knowledge about alternatives, namely the use of organoids and organ-on-chip, which offer more complex models that better simulate the complex systems of an organism”.

To this end, adds the i3S researcher, the 3RKC aims to be “an aggregator of knowledge that already exists or that is newly developed by researchers in their scientific practice, to later disseminate and share in the scientific community and, in that way, way, make the principle more agile - that is, that it leaves the paper more quickly and becomes a global practice”.

According to Anna Olsson, the European REMODEL project, which is now ending, “has allowed the i3S to be trained in these new technologies and clearly demonstrates the advantages of sharing knowledge between researchers to implement a 3Rs strategy”. In fact, she underlines, “it was the experience of this project that lead to the idea of 3RKC”.